After
by RedRogue
Summary: Set after the events of Endgame. Bucky Barnes meets the descendant of Steve and Peggy, and refuses to admit there might be something there. With her help, there just might be a life after Steve in this modern world for a brainwashed centennial assassin. Bucky/OC
1. Chapter 1: The End of the Line

**Introduction: The End of the Line**

**~RR~**

James Buchanan Barnes, or "Bucky" as he was more commonly known, was not intimidated by much, but today, found himself intimidated by a doorknob. It was made of a familiar brass and crystal, as may now have been considered antique. Sam put a hand on Bucky's shoulder as Bucky inhaled deeply. The air conditioning whirred in the all-too-quiet room, the air thick and heavy as his breath. He'd never been a fan of Southern humidity. Or their hospitality, for that matter. Was he ready to face those on the other side?

"You know, we don't have to do this." Sam's voice rang out behind him, sounding distant.

"Yeah... we do." Bucky countered back somberly. He clutched the doorknob with all the bravery he could muster, and opened the door. Bucky had been through many things, but nothing hurt more than this. The flowers, the pictures in shiny frames, and him, right in the center. Steve was being buried with his last suit, the same suit he had fought beside at an airport, long ago. His plot was already picked out, right next to Peggy's, just the way he wanted it. Bucky laid his dark, metal hand on the cherry wood of the coffin, wishing he could feel the fabrics of the American flag draped over it. He lowered his head, not being able to stand the sight. Sam came next to him quietly, and did the same. There were no words.

A small, wrinkled woman, soon appeared in the room. She held white flowers in her hands, matching the white of her hair. Her eyes were gentle and kind, and familiar to Bucky. She had Steve's kind and burdened eyes.

"I can easily figure out who you two are," she greeted with a fond smile. "My father and the stories he had, you both are practically legendary."

"You must be Angie." Sam offered his hand quickly, while Bucky remained stunned.

"Sarah, the youngest," she gently corrected. "You two take as long as you need."

As she turned to leave, Sam smiled at Bucky, ribbing him a bit with his elbow.

"Wow, our boy got a little busy, huh? Good for him, you know?"

Bucky would've snickered, but didn't have the heart. He simply stared down into the cold emptiness of Steve's face. He was unrecognizable to him now, with his greyish skin and stern expression. Bucky lamented the loss, not only of his dearest friend, but of the last link to his past and a time before he was the 'Winter Soldier'. He had officially outlived everyone from his previous life, from his childhood, and it was a tough pill to swallow. Even with Sam at his side, he couldn't help but feel alone.

"Hey Grandma," said a woman in the far doorway, grabbing at Sarah to call her attention. "The priest is confused on when the '21 Gun Salute' is happening and I didn't know what to tell him."

The young woman caught eyes with Bucky, seemingly surprised at the presence of strangers.

"Oh, I'll talk to Patrick, but do me a favor and offer these two gentleman something to eat. They are your grandfather's oldest friends."

As the older woman scurried off, her granddaughter lingered, eyeing the two men with confusion.

"Aren't you guys a bit young to be my great grandfather's 'oldest' friends?"

"It's a very long story," Sam interceded. "A good story, but a long one. Get your mom to sit you down with it sometime."

"I will," she agreed, still eyeing Sam suspiciously, then held out her hand to him. "I'm Sarah."

"Sam, and this is Bucky," Sam explained, slapping an encouraging hand on Bucky's back.

Bucky offered his hand for her to shake, and he finally looked the woman in the eye. She peered at him with a strange, hesitant gaze before taking his offered hand. Something in her eyes… They were blue eyes, with just a glimmer of green, just like...

"You can let go now, Bucky," Sam chuckled, tapping at Bucky's wrist after his handshake had gone on too long for comfort.

"Your name is Sarah too?" Bucky asked.

"Yeah..." she said, still squinting warily. "It's a family name."

Bucky couldn't help but stare. She was just like him. Not in looks, no, that was more from her mother's side. Those were Peggy's same dark locks, the determined gaze, the unrelenting posture and stiff British composure. But there was a soft spirit about her, a soul that he knew.

"I'm sorry," Bucky finally broke his eyeline. "You just remind me of him a little."

Sam stepped a bit more between them.

"Don't mind him, he's not from around here," he interjected. "And trust me, you don't bring your great-grandfather to _my_ mind in ANY way. Now, was there some mention of food I heard?"

She went off with Sam agreeably, but not without looking over her shoulder back at Bucky just before she went out the door.

"It was nice to meet you, Bucky," she called out just before she left his eyesight.

Bucky sighed again and turned back to Steve's open casket.

"You dog. You couldn't just leave me alone, could you?" He knocked the red wood of his casket twice for luck. "'Til the end of the line, pal."

~RR~

**Please do me the great honor of leaving a review.  
****Greatly appreciated!  
****-RedRogue**


	2. Chapter 2: The First Stab of Guillt

**Chapter 2: The First Stab of Guilt**

**~RR~**

Bucky pushed his mashed potatoes around his flowered porcelain plate, letting it tumble over the sliced ham and vegetables forlornly. He had found a peaceful moment alone on the front steps of the quaint funeral home that Steve's wake was being held. Unfortunately, moments of quiet never lasted too long these days, and Sam was soon making his way down the steps to him.

"There you are," Sam huffed as he made himself comfortable beside him. He was already halfway finished with his food, enjoying his vegetables in a carefree way. "Just got off the phone with Bruce, he's knee-deep in some secret science stuff but sends his best."

Bucky remained despondent, seizing the silence while he still could.

"Look man, I get that you're sad," Sam went on. "I'm sad too. But he was growing weaker for a long time, and now he finally gets to rest. He had a great life, a real great life. I mean, he had us, am I right? Great life."

Bucky put his fork down to take a bite out of a bread roll. Still, he didn't respond. Sam would never truly understand, never truly know the depth of loss that Bucky was experiencing. Sam didn't save that scrawny soldier's soul from bullies in the alley on the way home from school where they had first met. He didn't know Steve's mother, or what her cooking smelled like on holidays. Didn't see Steve struggle with English essays, or what atrocious suit he had worn to his first dance, or shake hands knowingly with his first crush. He didn't see this man fight Nazi's tooth and nail to save him from remaining in the wrong hands. He didn't get frozen in ice and wake up in the wrong decade, only to find your best friend was still fighting loyally to remain your friend after all those years, even when everyone else thought your mind was lost. How could he ever fathom the type of friend that was?

Still, given the chance, something told Bucky that Sam would've been that type of friend to Steve too. It was just not a fate that had been his. Thank God for that, really.

"Real handsome family he has in there, huh?" Sam tried again. "Strong genes. Is it weird that I'm kind of into Sarah?"

Bucky looked at Sam with a frown. Oh, yeah, and then there was that matter too. How could he even begin to process that?

"Yes, it is weird," Bucky shot out curtly, with strong meaning behind it.

Sam chewed for a moment, thoughtfully.

"Yeah, you're probably right," he agreed half-heartedly.

**~RR~**

As Bucky set the plate beside a sink with others of its own kind, he observed the young Sarah talking to a relative. She had a smile on the edges of her lips, dimples in warm, rosy cheeks. She wore a modest navy dress that was still kind to her shape. Everything in her screamed warmth, sweetness, familiarity. She truly was beautiful, in more ways than Bucky could begin to comprehend. Normally, he would have found an excuse to leave by now, but he found himself wanting to stay. He couldn't get over how familiar she felt…

Though, he felt out of place just standing around staring, so he grabbed a sponge and began to scrub at his dirty plate.

Moments later, a hand reached out for his, freezing him in his tracks.

"Please, don't," Sarah begged. "You really don't have to do that."

She took a moment to gawk at her hand on his metal one, allowing her fingers trace the lines of metal, but eventually taking the sponge from it.

"Besides," she giggled. "Won't you rust or something?"

Bucky heard himself snicker. He had chuckled at Steve's wake. Something he never would have dreamed.

"It's a special metal," he explained. "Doesn't rust."

"Well, you're an honored guest," she stated firmly. "And according to Grandma, guests don't do dishes."

Bucky suddenly didn't know what to do with his arms, awkwardly throwing them into his pockets instead of having them hang around, useless. She looked at him as looking right through him, and he felt uncomfortable under her attention. A glance up at her told him that she wasn't uncomfortable at all, gazing up at him without relent.

"So, you and Grandpa Steve go way back, huh?"

"Yeah…" Bucky fought an amused grin. "_Way_ back."

"Seems a shame he didn't invite you to more family functions."

"We... I..." Bucky stumbled over words. "It's complicated."

She laughed, a good hearty laugh.

"Wow," she shook her head. "That's exactly what he used to say."

Her eyes narrowed, and she leaned closer to his face as if to tell a secret. He stopped breathing.

"If you have a few minutes, I'd love to pick your brain on a few things…"

Bucky was immediately more uncomfortable than before.

"I should really be getting going."

"Please," she pleaded, her hand reaching for him again. "I'd love to know someone who meant so much to him."

Bucky's constitution crumbled under her hopeful look. After a moment of searching her expression, he sighed and caved.

"Do you have something to write with?"

**~RR~**

After the wake, Bucky realized the S.H.E.I.L.D. compound was the last place he wanted to return to. Luckily, Sam had once offered to let him stay in his extra room, and Bucky finally decided to take him up on the invitation.

Sam hurried through the front door in search of extra blankets for him. Sam was talking, but Bucky's mind was elsewhere, as he observed his strange new surroundings. He couldn't help but reach out and touch the TV, the large leather couch... he picked up the 'Beats' headphones from Sam's nearby desk, the leftover Starbucks coffee cup. They were things he had seen before, but still didn't quite understand. He felt like a stray... just so displaced in a world that didn't feel real yet, even after all these years.

As usual, it took him hours to finally drift off to sleep. He woke with the morning sun, and helped himself to a shower. He thought about Sarah as he stood completely still under the hot water. He thought of her hand on his metal one, how he ached to know what that would have felt like on his actual skin.

Suddenly, he felt his first stab of guilt over the matter. Would Steve have approved if he was alive? Bucky had never had a problem with the ladies back in their heyday... would Steve have insisted he should pursue someone else... _anyone_ else? Somehow, that didn't sound like the Steve he had known. So, why the guilt?

Bucky turned the shower faucet off. He decided to put it as far away from his mind as he could. He had only spoken to her for mere moments anyhow. It was nothing.

He was just buttoning his pants closed when Sam walked into the room.

"Hey, man," he said with a serious tone. "You're gonna want to come into the living room."

Bucky was throwing a maroon shirt on over his head as he entered the common area. There was Nick Fury, sitting on an armchair before him. Bucky quietly helped himself to a seat next to Sam on the couch, and let Fury speak first.

"I wish I could say the world was quiet on a day like this," He said slowly, ominously, as only he could. "Unfortunately, the passing of the world's greatest heroes only encourages the bad guys to come out of the woodwork even more."

Sam and Bucky exchanged glances, sighed together. They knew what was coming next.

"Don't worry, I already paid my respects," Fury assured them with a firm nod. He handed Bucky a folder with a bold, red 'classified' stamped across the front. "I thought you might appreciate the distraction. Not to mention, this one directly concerns you."

Bucky opened the folder as Sam peeked over his shoulder.

"Sergei Kravinoff?" Sam read aloud. "Do you know him?"

"Bucky here, might know him as another name," Fury answered for him. "Kraven the Hunter. He was a soviet assassin who was given the same serum as the other Winter Soldiers."

"I thought Zemo killed all of you guys back when?" Sam asked in confusion.

"Kraven was never part of the program," Bucky replied. "He was discharged for being... unstable. From my understanding, he was declared deceased."

"So were you," Fury retorted.

Bucky digested the comment for a moment, seeing his point.

"So, you want us to find the guy?" Sam guessed.

"Actually, I came here to give you a head's up," Fury corrected, and turned his attention back to Bucky. "Word is, he's coming to find _you_."

"Why?" Bucky drew back.

"Apparently," Fury leaned forward in his chair. "He wants to be the only one left in this world with the Serum. So long as you're alive, he's not the best. If I were you, I would keep my eyes open. Wide open. One of his aliases bought a plane ticket to Washington D.C. twelve hours ago. I think he wants you to know he's coming for you."

Bucky looked at the floor.

"He was waiting for Steve's death," he surmised. "Why?"

"Perhaps there's a part of him that likes being celebrated for being- well, whatever he is. There might be people who would have hated him for killing the great Captain America, especially since he wasn't exactly a threat anymore. However, killing a war criminal... might be another story."

"Guess you should avoid well-populated public areas," Sam added.

**~RR~**

**Please do me the great honor of leaving a review.****  
**Greatly appreciated!**  
**-RedRogue****


	3. Chapter 3: The Attack

**Chapter 3: The Attack**

**~RR~**

"Naw, man, you're still holding the controller wrong, you gotta hold it like I am…"

"I'm trying, Sam, but it's not working!"

"You can't blame the hardware, man, that's a rookie move."

Bucky let out a hefty sigh and threw himself into the back of Sam's armchair in frustration. The pair was trying to occupy their time with something Sam considered a 'game' but Bucky wasn't in the mood for learning another space age contraption that simulated the violence he was trying his best to distance himself from.

It had been almost a week since Bucky had been outdoors, and he was past the point of stir-crazy. He looked longingly out the window as his avatar on the TV screen idled.

Sam put his controller down.

"I know, man, this waiting around thing is…" Sam let himself trail off.

"Not like us." Bucky finished for him.

"It's like we're just waiting for something to go-"

Sam cut himself off at the sound of his phone ringing, a familiar chime of a rotary phone he had probably set for Steve's recognition a long time ago.

"Wilson," he answered in a routine tone. His face fell serious which made Bucky sit back upright in his seat.

"Where are you now?" Sam was on his feet grabbing his coat and signaling Bucky to follow suit. "Alright, stay there."

Sam hit the button to end the call, and faced Bucky with an expression of shock.

**~RR~**

"I still can't believe you gave her _my_ number," Sam complained again as he pulled off the freeway en route to Sarah's house. "We need to get you your phone already, Casanova."

"I don't like 'em," Bucky countered back with a sigh. "The screens are complicated and everything's too small."

"Steve handled just fine with a little flip phone, so can you, and that's the end of it."

As Bucky and Sam arrived on the scene, Sarah was already rushing down the front stairs of the quaint suburban house. She weaved her way through the small crowd of uniformed officers and detectives and threw herself on Sam, soaking his shoulder with tears.

"I didn't know who else to call," she sobbed.

Bucky walked ahead as Sam did his best to console the woman in his arms. He cautiously walked up to the front door, where he was stopped by a policeman just finishing up putting up the yellow tape. Bucky was still able to look around him to the living room, and his breath caught at the gruesome sight before him.

The body of Sarah's grandmother was lifeless on the floor, a pooling of blood around her that was soaking into the outdated orange carpet under her. Bucky gulped back a lump in his throat, as he tried his best to look for other traces of clues. He was surprised at how deep this moment was hitting him, as he saw the pictures of Steve with his daughters on the walls, the antique Captain America memorabilia proudly displayed in scattered wooden cabinets about the room. She had been proud of her father, that much was obvious.

Steve hadn't been buried in the ground a week and Bucky already felt like he had failed him, and his legacy.

"She wasn't answering the phone," he heard Sarah's weak voice sniffling to Sam. "I came by to check but it was already too late. I figured it must be something to do with Great Grandpa Steve's past… that's why I thought of you two-"

_BANG_!

All attention swerved to the sound of a gunshot being fired inside the house. It was quickly silenced with the sound of something metal entering a man's flesh and the crash of a body falling limply to the floor. Policeman rushed towards the sound, more gunshots followed. Both Sam and Bucky hurried into the house, no longer thwarted by procedure, but no sooner had they stepped fully into the living room, when all went quiet again.

"He's on the roof-!" another cop shouted from the front yard, and a distinct female scream followed.

_BOOM!_

Bucky and Sam were just whirling around to face the assailant but were launched forward at the sound of a booming grenade detonating inside the house, hurling them down the porch stairs.

Bucky spat out his face-full of grass and spotted a pistol on the ground in front of him. He quickly reached his metal arm to retrieve it, but hesitated at the small clinking sound of something striking it but bouncing off. He grabbed the object for quick inspection, a tiny metal needle with a red feather on it. Poison dart?

A shadow coming from the corner of his eye prompted him to roll in escape, just in time to avoid the flying figure stabbing down with a spear. Bucky got a quick glance at the large attacker, some gruff, filthy-looking man in leather and wearing a lion's pelt around his shoulders. He stabbed the last policeman that came towards him, then ducked as Sam's small remote-controlled bird fired stinging shots at him, while Sam himself was fishing through the trunk of their car for his wing-pack. Kraven sliced easily through Redwing and pulled out another grenade to throw at Sam, but Sarah caught his attention with the whiz of a bullet by his face.

Kraven was superhumanly fast with that spear he held, knocking the pistol from Sarah's hands and just as swiftly lunging at her shoulder. As Sarah cried out, Bucky just barely managed to block Kraven with his good hand before the spearhead pierced her fully, and crushed the weapon in the fist of his metal one. He spotted Kraven already firing another dart his way, and like a magician, had already pulled out another large blade out of nowhere. It was all Bucky could do but keep up with his lightning movements, the stabs of the machete and the low kicks took every ounce of his dormant training to keep at bay.

"Bucky, fall back!" he heard Sam call out, and Bucky dove away from Kraven in time for Sam to rain bullets down on him, flying overheard in full 'Falcon' regalia. Kraven, knowing he was out-gunned, quickly retreated towards the forest line behind the house, disappearing behind a cloud of black smoke. Sam flew carefully after him into the trees, but soon opted to walk on foot, using his heat vision to track him.

"He's used some sort of cloaking," Sam called out. "I'm not getting any signature."

Bucky let his shoulder's fall, trying to catch his breath as siren's blared in the distance. He trusted Sam's word to deem it safe enough to check on Sarah. She was profusely bleeding, but had already torn off a sleeve to wrap around as makeshift bandaging.

She looked up at Bucky, bravely holding her gaze, breathing heavily through her discomfort, and her eyes said it all. Sadness, pain, disbelief… all molded together to form a deeper level of anger. Bucky knew the feeling well.

"You should-" he uttered gently between panting. "You should probably come with us."

**~RR~**

After the Avengers Compound had been destroyed, S.H.E.I.L.D. had relocated them back to Stark Tower, thanks to the gracious joined effort buyback of Mrs. Stark. It seemed the easiest solution while the Compound was being rebuilt on Tony's old blueprints, though his technology was far advanced and took a lot of effort from Dr. Banner for the follow-through. It seemed Bruce welcomed the challenge, as it likely helped him ease the grief of the loss of Tony, not to mention Natasha, and now Steve as well.

There were few left besides Banner that actually remained living in the actual tower. Those who were from space had returned to it, Clint and Scott were home with their families, Strange and T'Challa were tending to their elsewhere responsibilities, and the little one had gone back to school. Only Wanda floated around the building like a ghost, and soon even she left on what she called a 'vacation'.

Dr. Banner met them at the elevator after they had reached the laboratory floor, and quickly had Sarah sitting on a hospital bed to care for her wounds. Even though his large Hulk hands were double the side of her face, his touch was still skilled and tender. She was obviously was concentrating hard on not staring at her giant green physician.

"I've heard of this guy," Bruce nodded when Sam had finished describing the attack. "Peter mentioned an altercation with him before. I believe the words he used were 'unrelenting' and uh, 'no chill'. He wasn't able to beat him."

"I hate to admit it, but neither were we," Sam admitted. "He was fast, and he's got some serious training on him, for sure. And some badass weaponry. He wasn't playin' no games."

"Except for these darts," Bruce adjusted his glasses higher on his nose, peering closer at the liquid inside of the darts on a microscope slide. "You're wrong- They aren't poison. It's just ketamine."

Bucky and Sam exchanged glances, hoping the other would give a hint to the definition of the word.

"Tranquilizer," Bruce explained.

This time, Bucky and Sam shared worried glances. If this master hunter wasn't using lethal force on Bucky, it could only mean one thing: he was hired for capture. To Bucky, that almost felt worse. Was Hydra still out there? Were they trying to get their property back? Who else could it be?

Bucky took a deep worried sigh, turning his back on the others to lean with both hands on a counter.

"So," Sarah spat out, horrified. "My grandmother died, all those cops died, I almost died, just so this psychopath mercenary could get to _him_? That's barbaric."

Her words lingered in the air, as a silence filled the room.

"Is this like a typical Thursday to you guys or what?" she demanded. "I don't know how it usually goes down here in 'Hero-Land' so maybe one of you can enlighten me?"

The men were silent, almost afraid to answer. Sarah hung her head and let out a huff, starting over.

"What I mean to say is, how are we going to get this son of a bitch?"

Sam and Bruce looked each other with some surprise.

"I- I'm sorry- '_we'_?" Sam repeated.

"Surely, you have a spare flying suit lying around here somewhere. You expect me to just sit on my ass while this guy comes after me? After my family?"

"While I appreciate the 'gung ho' attitude," Sam waved a hand to calm her. "Let's leave this to the _trained_ professionals, shall we?"

"So, train me." She folded her arms in determination.

"Bruce?" Sam's voice ached for support. "You're the 'senior Avenger' around here…"

Bruce threw his hands up.

"Hey, I don't want to be called 'senior' _anything_, if you don't mind. But you ask me, she sounds like she's doing this with or without us, so we might as well give her some armor and a few pointers, you know?"

Sam sighed in dislike, and directed his attention to his last hope in the room.

"Bucky…?"

Bucky was lost in his own nightmares, struggling not to break the metal countertop with his shaking grip. His mind was racing, flashing with memories long suppressed, the violence, the gore, the terror, the screaming, the _screaming_-

"You okay, man?"

Bucky awoke from his trance and tuned himself back into the world around him. He loosened his grip on the counter, glancing at the large dent his metal arm had made. Sam had risen from his nearby seat to go closer to Bucky. He cautiously put a hand on Bucky's shoulder, offering a small comfort as he came back to reality.

"You're not going back there, man," Sam assured him in a voice just above a whisper. "Never again. I won't let them take you. I promise you that. You got it?"

Bucky finally met Sam's eye, and gave him a weak grin in thanks.

Bruce patted Sarah on the back at her sympathetic expression, trying to stay ahead of her questions.

"I'll fill you in later," Bruce promised. "Right now, I should probably go make a phone call."

**~RR~**

**Please do me the great honor of leaving a review.**  
** Greatly appreciated!**  
** -RedRogue**


	4. Chapter 4: The Ghost

**Chapter 4: The Ghost**

**~RR~**

Later that night, Bucky tossed and turned in bed, knowing full well that sleep was not going to be an option for him. He was back to fighting memories that felt like a past life, that didn't feel like him. He was also haunted by the distrust that this hunter would give up so easily. Sure, there was no safer location than the one he was in (besides maybe S.H.E.I.L.D. headquarters itself), and he was surrounded by some serious brawn with an alarm system attached to immediate backup… but deep down he knew that nothing, not even sleeping in an iron vault, was going to make him feel at ease. The feeling of safety was not something known to him for a long time… Besides maybe at Wakanda.

He sighed at the wonderful time not-so-long-ago when the native children sang to him as they tied up his hair, while others around him giggled, trying to teach him a game he still didn't quite get… it was the most pleasant memory in recent history that he had.

Bucky rolled over to his side, facing the door, and that's when he saw it. A shadow under the door. He almost thought his eyes were lying to him, but he was on his feet in a second anyway.

Slowly, cautiously, he turned the knob of the door, keeping his back to the wall out of the way of its swing, as he let it fall open on its own. Encouraged at no sign of entry, he peeked out of the doorway into the hall. Nothing.

He honed his ears to listen close, and could make out the sound of distant steps over to the left. Keeping light on the balls of his feet, he crept towards them, knife in hand. The closer he came to the corner, the softer the distant steps fell.

Then, they began to get louder once more, as if they had turned back. He tightened his grip on the knife tensely. He could only wait as they grew louder, closer… Soon, he could make out the shadow again.

He lowered his knife as he realized the shadow had a petite figure and a ponytail… And breasts.

"OH!" Sarah exclaimed as she rounded the corner. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"

"No, no, it's fine-"

"-God, I should have known better, sneaking around in a facility with a bunch of trained military men… _Stupid_… I was just looking for the bathroom, but nothing is marked, and I didn't want to walk in on— God, I'm so sorry."

"Really, it's on me," Bucky insisted, hiding the knife behind him and suddenly very aware that he was only in boxers and an undershirt. He then realized she was suddenly aware of this too, as she was glancing at his ab region almost involuntarily.

"Let me grab some pants," Bucky suggested. "And then I'll show you were we hide the facilities."

"Sounds good," she chuckled with obvious embarrassment. "And then maybe you can point me in the direction of food?"

**~RR~**

They were silent in the kitchen, with only the sound of their spoons clinking in their bowls of plain vanilla ice cream to fill the room. As he leaned his rear against the counter, he supposed he could've offered her a place at the table in the next room, but somehow this felt more comfortable, watching her hover over her own bowl with her elbows on the cold metal of the counter opposite him.

"This could count as a meal, right?" Sarah chuckled into her dinnerware.

"Sure," Bucky agreed with a sly smirk, as if conceding to keep a mutual secret.

"What does Tarzan-man want with you, anyway? Or, I guess, I mean, who do you think _really_ wants you?"

"I have my guesses," Bucky admitted with a sigh. "It's complicated."

"That seems to be your go-to response, but I'll let it slide for now."

She put her spoon down and faced him properly.

"I suppose this would be a good time to thank you…" She fought her own smile with little success. "You know, for saving my life against that maniac."

"I think it might be negated by the fact that I just tried to kill you five minutes ago."

They burst into a shared chuckle. Bucky found himself looking at her as she laughed. Really looking at her.

She caught his stare and he quickly looked down, sniffing uncomfortably as an attempt to cover it. He put his bowl aside to make ready to leave, but she wasn't having it.

"I really loved him, you know," she put out. "Grandpa Steve… He truly was a great man. I imagined his adventures a lot, you know, when I was young. I wanted to be just like him, but even then I knew he was special. There's _never_ going to be anyone else like him."

Bucky let her words sink in, not knowing how to quite express what they meant to him, how much he agreed with her. The connection he was feeling was too strong, so much that it scared him, made him want to be anywhere else but near her.

"You should get some rest," he said feebly. "Big day tomorrow."

"Right," she agreed, putting her own bowl in the sink. "Thanks again for showing me around."

"Anytime," he barely spoke, his voice failing him. He managed to get it back right before he exited through the doorway, lingering a moment before he spoke.

"You're more like him than you know," he stated to the ground, before bringing himself to meet her eye one last time. "He didn't back down from a fight either."

She beamed at this, almost gratefully, and he grinned meekly in return.

He went back to his bed not bothering to take his sweatpants off this time. He laid on top of the covers in the windowless room, staring at the ceiling. Sure, this wasn't going to beat Wakanda by any means, but it he knew this was still a good memory he was going to keep around.

**~RR~**

As Bucky walked the hall the next morning, he was met by Sam making his way down with clothes in hand that could safely be assumed were for Sarah.

"You get those from Wanda's closet?" Bucky guessed.

"No, Nat's," Sam corrected. "It's not insensitive, right?"

"I still wouldn't mention it," Bucky advised, and Sam nodded in agreement.

They were to be escorted by S.H.E.I.L.D. in an armored truck to their training facilities in order to have Maria Hill better equip Sarah on how to handle herself defensively. The trip was all supervised and well-planned, yet when Bucky exited the front door of the Avenger's tower, he found himself checking rooftops, his shoulders tense, his senses alert. He didn't think it too paranoid to assume he was being watched from now on. He knew Kraven was out there, waiting for his next moment.

As soon as they entered Headquarters, Agent Hill introduced herself to Sarah, and Bucky spotted another familiar face come up to welcome them.

"Clint Barton, as I live and breathe…" Sam greeting fondly. Bucky was glad Sam was always around these days to do all the talking. "The hell are you doing here, man? Thought you'd be out farmin' or some other domesticated crap."

"Oh, you know me," Clint laughed. "Can't stay away. And my little girl, Kate, she was getting bored with shooting trees."

"Hawkeye Junior, huh?" Sam teased.

"Yeah, we'll see. Who's the girl with you?"

"Oh, you're not going to believe this," Sam was glancing over to Bucky when he spoke now. "That's the Cap's great granddaughter. Sarah."

"No kiddin'?" Clint laughed. "Either of you fall in love with her yet?"

"Oh, we're working on it- right, Buck?"

"Don't look at me," Bucky defended, backing away from their teasing. But Clint _was_ looking at him, right at him, as if searching him for something. Bucky suddenly felt the need to separate from them for real.

"I'm going to go restock," Bucky announced. "I'll meet up with you guys at the gym."

"Yeah, okay…" Sam said in a skeptical manner.

**~RR~**

After Bucky had made a small dent in the ammunition supply, he tried to find his way back to the others. Instead, he found the shooting range where Clint was working with his daughter. She was, of course, meticulously accurate, though it seemed Clint still had some things to inform her. Bucky couldn't help but watch for a moment as Clint held her elbow up as she shot, handing her different kinds of arrows in an effort to test her.

There had been a time, very long ago, when Bucky had thought about having a family of his own. It was a time before the darkness of Hydra, when he could trust his own mind not to hurt those he loved. He had been so carefree on the dancefloor once, loving the feel of his dates' wide skirts briskly fanning his legs as he twirled them. That man no longer existed, those girls moved on to dance with other men, and yet here he remained.

Bucky decided it was time to have a conversation with Clint, because who knew when he was going to get another chance. He awkwardly lingered in the doorway, watching a line of a few other S.H.I.E.L.D. archers making due with some crossbows. Clint finally caught Bucky's presence in the room, prompting him to step forward.

"Hey man, what's up?" Clint greeted warmly. Bucky envied that warmth.

"You got a second?" Bucky asked humbly.

"Sure, man, no problem. Katie baby!" Clint waved at his daughter. "I'mma be right back, okay, hon? You keep at those broadheads until I get back."

"Okay!" she called back. Bucky kept his eyes on her, envious of her world. A world with parents, siblings, beyond the military.

"Walk with me?" Clint asked, taking a sip from an aluminum water bottle as he meandered out into the corridors. "What's on your mind, Sergeant?"

Bucky sighed, not knowing how to begin.

"Steve once told me you had some experience, having your mind controlled by some not-so-nice people."

"Not one of my fonder memories, but yes. Why, you trying to start a support group?"

Bucky's breath gave out, unable to go on. Clint pat him on the back encouragingly, sensing his cavalier attitude was out of place. He started over with a bit more seriousness.

"You know, I figured Steve's death would have the biggest effect on you. And I'm not going to sit here and pretend like my experience can hold a candle to yours. I was puppeteered for like, what, a week?"

"Still…" Bucky felt his tone verging toward desperate, but he didn't care. "How do you do it? How do you possibly go on and have a life? Knowing that you can't even trust your own mind? How do you expect other people to trust you- how do you have a family… knowing what they can make you do? That they can make you _hurt_ them, or worse?"

Clint clicked his teeth and sighed, weighing his heavy questions over.

"Well, to be fair, I had a family before that happened, but… you know, being an agent, I've never been without risk, my family has never been beyond compromise and that's just a choice we all made."

They reached a nearby rafter and Clint paused to lean on a railing. Bucky realized he had been led back to a glass bridge over the gym, where agent Hill was on a mat sparring with Sarah below them. Bucky felt strange watching her, so he put his back to the window.

"At a certain point, you have to ask yourself," Clint went on. "What is a life worth living to you? Are you going to spend it in fear? Lurking in shadows, being a ghost? To me, that's just letting them win, man… At a certain point, I met someone… and I just knew. There was no other choice… Because I couldn't live without her."

Bucky was quiet, digesting his words, and Clint pat his shoulder once more, sympathizing. Clint decided to let the matter rest, and began to take his leave, allowing him some time. Before he could make it to the other side of the bridge, he turned back, as if remembering something.

"You act like you don't have any other family besides Steve, man, and it's just not true. He wouldn't have wanted you to be a ghost."

Bucky could feel his insides twisting as Clint continued walking off.

"He had a family, why can't you?" Clint called out before he turned the corner out of sight, leaving him to look down over Sarah without anyone knowing. He closed his eyes to steady his emotions. He knew Clint was right.

He just couldn't be right about her.

**~RR~**

**Please review!  
Signed,**  
**-RedRogue**


	5. Chapter 5: The Capture

**Chapter 5: The Capture**

**~RR~**

The next day, Bucky found himself looking in a mirror before leaving the room, something he rarely bothered with. He never recognized himself whenever he caught a glance of his reflection. He only remembered a version of himself with short hair, clean shaven, less sallow eyes. He rubbed his beard and decided it was time for it to go.

He walked out with a little more confidence than yesterday. He felt he looked good, and he couldn't wait to show one person in particular. He took a deep breath and headed out to the shooting range to check in with the others. Agent Hill smiled when she saw Bucky approach, but Sam's attention was solely on Sarah, giving her small directions as she handled a rifle.

"See, you flinched again, there's no flinching, try again," Sam ordered. "You didn't even see that target on the left. Start over."

Sam's voice was booming through the hall as loud as the gunshots.

"Is he always like this with her?" Bucky asked Agent Hill.

"Oh, yeah," she replied assuredly

"She showing any signs of quitting?"

Maria Hill smiled at Bucky proudly.

"Not even close."

"Atta girl," Bucky said under his breath, and continued forward to stop by Sam's side next. Bucky shoved his hands into his pockets and uttering no greeting. He saw Sam throw him a side eye, but offered no other acknowledgment to his presence.

Sarah groaned and rubbed the shoulder where Kraven had embedded his spear.

"God, it hurts," she complained.

"That's 'cuz you're getting too much recoil," Sam retorted, going up to Sarah and placing a hand her back to push her upright. "Here, stand up straight, bend your arms more. You anticipate the pushback then it's going to make you less accurate. Firing a gun is a confident man's game, see? You have to mean it."

Bucky crossed his arms now, staring at Sam's hand on the small of Sarah's back, having not moved. His other hand was on her left tricep, supporting her hurt arm. Bucky sniffed and tried without success to concentrate his attention elsewhere. Why did Sam touching her bother him so much? He should be supporting them. At least they were probably born in the same decade.

Bucky shook the thought away. Technically, they were probably about the same age if you only counted time he was not frozen on ice. He had to get over this 'age gap' nonsense if he was ever going to have a chance at ending up with someone.

"Hey, look," Maria grabbed at some things on the floor around her, with a distracted look on her face. "Seems like you boys have this covered for now so I'm going to go catch up on a few things, and we'll meet back at the gym for more calisthenics after lunch, okay?"

"Sure," Bucky said agreeably as she grabbed her clipboard last and hurried off.

Once she was gone, Bucky felt awkward standing around alone watching Sam being uncomfortably close to Sarah. It took four more rounds for him to finally back off.

"There you go!" Sam exclaimed. "You see the difference?"

"I do," she nodded, beaming with pride. She finally noticed Bucky, and her smile faded.

"Oh, hey, Sergeant Barnes…" she said quietly, almost embarrassed.

"Sarah," he replied with an encouraging smile. "You're looking good."

When her brow shot up, he immediately backtracked, gesturing to the targets.

"I mean, your aim, it's uh… it's not half bad."

"Smooth," Sam chuckled.

"Guys," Agent Hill came hurrying back into the room, a hand over her earpiece to keep it in as she rushed. "Our guys guarding Angela Rogers just spotted Kraven."

"What?!" Sarah spat out.

"She's okay, they're already moving everyone to a more secure location but we have to get backup there _now_."

Bucky made to grab at the nearest gun, but Sam grabbed at his shoulder just as quickly.

"Uh, no, you don't," Sam corrected firmly. "You're the one he's after, remember? Don't be stupid, you'll be a hazard. Stay with Sarah, I'll report back ASAP, alright?"

"'_Stay with Sarah_'?" Bucky repeated. "What, with the women and children?"

"I know you're old-fashioned, so I'm going to pretend like you didn't just say that," Agent Hill warned Bucky with a threatening finger.

Sam ran towards Agent Hill without delay, ignoring him.

"Lead the way, Hill, start talking."

"'_Stay with Sarah'_? Come on- are you kidding me?"

"Heaton, Montgomery, you're coming too," Hill pointed at the few other agents in the room to follow before she turned the corner out of sight.

"Ugh!" Bucky kicked the nearest chair, causing it to sail into a wall and stay there like it was a new piece of modern art.

Sarah melted into the floor, distraught. Her breathing was labored, her eyes searched the ground for answers. Bucky was a bit at a loss on how to comfort her, feeling ashamed for losing his temper. He got down on one knee beside her, but couldn't find any words.

To his surprise, she grabbed his wrist, clutching it tightly.

"I feel the same way," she said softly.

He looked at her hand clutching his good arm, as it drifted down to hold his hand properly. He felt the warmth passed between them, and he realized it was the first time he'd had skin to skin contact with a woman in a non-violent way since the 1940's—that he could remember, anyway. It was maddeningly euphoric, like he had just been injected with morphine.

"She's not going to end up like your grandmother," he promised. "I know Sam's got this, or I wouldn't have listened when he told me to stay behind."

Then, she embraced him. He wasn't expecting it, and his arms flailed beside her. He denied himself from returning the embrace, willing his hands to keep respectfully at bay.

"You should keep practicing," Bucky said, gently pulling himself away from her. "Uh, you know, it'll help."

As he quickly made for the door, he heard her call after him. She had to chase him down in the metal corridor.

"Where are you going?" she demanded with a huff. "Are you avoiding me, or something?"

Bucky stopped walking, but didn't turn around.

"Did I embarrass you the other night, is that it?"

Finally, Bucky faced her. He opened his mouth, but no sound escaped. How could he begin to tell her the truth? Somehow, putting how he felt into the atmosphere just made it more real, solidified that nothing could ever happen between them.

"If that's it, I'm sorry, it didn't feel like a big deal to me," she went on. "But I know you're like, from a different time, or whatever… I'm sorry either way. I just don't want us to be on the wrong foot. And I really would rather not be alone right now."

Bucky looked to the floor, then back to her.

"This…" he tried to explain. "It's just a little too strange for me."

"What is?" she asked with confusion. When Bucky didn't answer, she took a guess. "Because I'm related to Steve?"

Bucky grimaced, but slowly, nodded.

"Do I remind you that much of him?" she asked, in what sounded like disappointment.

"No!" Bucky put that claim to rest quickly. "No, it's not that- its…"

He looked her straight in the eyes. She had beautiful eyes, in an almost perfect almond shape. Everything about her felt like a giant magnet, pulling him in by force.

He had to resist. No matter what. It was for her own good for him to keep his distance. He had made a decision: that this was wrong.

He never finished his statement, just abruptly turned and began to walk away again. Her footsteps quickened behind him, and she felt her grab at his shoulder to turn him around.

"You can't just leave and _not_ tell me what's up!"

"Fine, you know what?" Bucky licked his lips and let his temper rise. "You shouldn't be here, Banner made a mistake. You should be at a safehouse with the rest your civilian family. This isn't a place to fulfill your spy fantasies, this is a covert military intelligence unit and you are wasting everyone's time. War is ugly, and it has no place for you."

She let his shoulder go.

"You don't know anything about me, and you're making an awful lot of assumptions."

"Oh, I've seen enough war to know what I'm talking about, dollface."

She guffawed, mostly through shock.

"What did you just call me?"

"Some of us aren't here on a name alone."

"Yeah, some of us are broody, ex-Soviet 'gofer' boys that really should be behind bars. I can think of a '_name_' you should be _thanking_ for that right now."

Bucky snickered through his growing temper.

"So, now you think you're owed a hereditary thank you?"

"I'd settle for some basic courtesy!"

"Go home, princess. Before you get hurt. It's the best courtesy I can give you."

"'_Princess'_, now, is it?" she laughed. "The relationship between Sam and you makes so much more sense… You're an _asshole_."

Bucky deemed it was as good a time to walk away as any. This time, she let him.

**~RR~**

Sam and the others didn't return until late into the night, but they returned successful. When Bucky was alerted that they were back, he hurried out to the lifts to get to the first floor. Thankfully, Sarah hadn't gotten the same alert, and was nowhere to be seen.

A few agents wheeled in a large metal and glass containment, not unlike the secured rig they had Bucky put in once upon a time. The straps around his limbs and the bulletproof glass between them made Bucky feel a little more at ease.

Kraven smiled, with all of his teeth. Some of his teeth had been filed into points, which was a little off-putting… but not as much as the mischievous glimmer in his eye, which Bucky could just barely make out behind his scraggly mess of hair.

"Nice to see you again, Sergeant Barnes," Kraven greeted fondly.

"Look at that, it speaks," Bucky heard Sam say to Kraven from behind him. He sounded pretty confident too.

"Sometimes," Kraven hissed. "A predator will lie down very still… And his prey come to him."

"I don't know if you'll be doing much 'lyin' down' these coming days, Sergei," Sam waved his warnings off with little regard, and grabbed at Bucky to join him back to the elevators. "I wish we could've hosed him off before we put him in there because man, let me tell ya, this boy _stank_."

Bucky let a good-natured grin through, but couldn't help but let his worry creep back in.

It seemed pretty obvious this man wanted to be captured, to be brought here- but he was in a maximum-security facility surrounded by hundreds of highly trained officers. What could possibly be his angle?

When Sam and Bucky reached the elevators, Bucky couldn't help but look back to Kraven one more time. As they wheeled his rig away, Kraven's smiles at Bucky remained, again showing off his monstrous teeth. Bucky forced himself to not look away.

**~RR~**

**Please review!  
Signed,**  
**-RedRogue**


	6. Chapter 6: The Interrogation

**Chapter 6: The Interrogation**

**~RR~**

Bucky enjoyed swimming. The doctors had recommended it as the best way to keep up his strength without too much strain on his old bones. The S.H.I.E.L.D. pool was always heated to a beautiful temperature, and when he put his ears below water level, the whole world seemed to disappear. Bucky would purposefully wait until later in the night, when most agents had retired for the evening.

After his conversation with Sarah and Kraven's subsequent capture, he felt he had a lot to process, and he usually processed things best alone. It had been almost two days since he had run into anyone he knew, and he liked it that way.

It was after midnight when he had finished swimming and showering. He decided to brave the mess hall for a full meal, rather than the strategically executed snack runs he usually configured throughout the daylight hours.

He was surprised to see Sam sitting alone at one of the chrome tables, eating a sandwich. Bucky sighed when Sam spotted him, knowing it was too late to turn back, so he grabbed one of the plastic-wrapped hoagies from the fridge for himself, and silently went to sit across from him.

"I figured you were getting your meals late," Sam admitted.

Bucky began unwrapping his sandwich and reached for the mustard, but Sam scooted the condiment tray farther from him. Bucky finally met his gaze.

"Sarah's been asking about you, I told her you probably just needed some time to grieve… Even though I know better- you don't take time to grieve. So, I concluded, you must be avoiding her, 'cuz you sure as hell ain't avoiding me 'cuz you know I'd have to kick your ass."

He let him have the mustard and Bucky stayed silent as he dressed his sandwich and took a bite.

"You're not sleeping either, I'm guessing, because you look more like shit than usual."

Sam was right, he wasn't sleeping. He had Kraven's threats to thank for that.

"This is the part where you talk," Sam informed him.

"I just needed some time to think."

"'To think', huh? You do that?"

"A lot to think about…" Bucky frowned and looked off in the distance. When Sam didn't seem satisfied with that answer, Bucky sighed and went on.

"You and I haven't always seen eye-to-eye on certain things…" Bucky sighed. "Now that Steve's gone, makes me wonder if he was all we had in common."

"Well, that was before," Sam stated as if it was common knowledge, then he let his eyes squint suspiciously as he realized the knowledge was not shared between them. "Right?"

When Bucky still wouldn't meet his gaze, Sam tilted his head to force eye contact.

"_Right_…?" he said again, this time more firmly.

"I guess I never thought about the possibility of Hydra getting me again. I thought that part of my life was finally behind me. But now, with Kraven likely working for them-"

"Hey, we don't know that." Sam interceded. "We don't know that for sure. What, you scared if they get you, no one's gonna come after you like Steve did? No one's gonna hold on to the real Bucky? I can think of several other people in this _building_ who would, not just me, so you gotta cut it out with this 'lone wolf', 'island' crap and get back to the 'you're only as good as the man on your left' days. Steve left behind two great friends that he trusted with his life. _That's_ what we have in common now- and I am a little offended that actually needed to be said out loud."

Bucky tried to fight it, but his smile broke through anyways.

"That's probably the sweetest thing you ever said to me," he couldn't help but tease. Sam scoffed in frustration.

"Boy, eat your damn sandwich."

Bucky could only obey, realizing how hungry he really was.

"I actually came here to have a conversation about this 'Sarah situation', though," Sam pierced the silence again.

"What 'Sarah situation'?" Bucky's stomach caved in a bit and he lowered his sandwich. Maybe he wasn't that hungry after all.

"Don't play me," Sam leaned forward in his seat, confronting Bucky properly. "I know."

Bucky grimaced. Sam went back to eating his sandwich. Bucky blinked his confusion when Sam didn't appear to be continuing.

"Is… that the end of the conversation?" Bucky asked precariously.

"Yeah, that's the end."

"Thank god."

Agent Hill rushed to the doorway, wheezing for loss of breath.

"There you are," Agent Hill panted. "Everett Ross is looking for you. On the interrogation level."

Sam and Bucky exchanged worried looks, then threw the small remainders of their food away together, and followed her.

**~RR~**

Agent Hill led Bucky and Sam down to the lower levels of the building, where very few had clearance to enter. Bucky had to admit, he was never fond of being underground. The air was stale and close together, and the temperature always too cold… not to mention he hated that there was only one way in or out. He glanced at Sam to gauge his feelings. He look as uneasy as Bucky felt, and for some reason, that was comforting.

They followed Agent Hill to a viewing room where Agent Ross was waiting, standing in his usual stiff-as-a-board way. Agent Ross forever bore the appearance of a man waiting for something to go wrong, and Bucky couldn't help but relate to the sentiment.

A two-way mirror showed Kraven was leaning back in his chair, very relaxed and carefree. He even amused himself by picking his nose. Bucky gulped, a bead of sweat forming on his temple. Why was he out of his rig?

"Why does he look like he's on vacation?" Sam beat Bucky to saying it first. "I thought we were keeping him in a box?"

"To our surprise, he's actually been extremely cooperative," Agent Ross informed. "He's given us names and last known locations of seven HYDRA and KGB field operatives. Up until about an hour ago. He says all he wants… is to talk to Sergeant Barnes."

All eyes went to Bucky, and he looked to the floor.

"Should be fine," Bucky didn't know if he was saying that to them or to himself. He sniffed nervous"Right?"

**~RR~**

Bucky entered the interrogation room alone, closing the door loudly behind himself. Kraven was already chuckling in that disconcerting way, and he sat up in his seat now. Bucky helped himself to the chair across from him, its legs screeching on the cement underneath.

"They said you wanted to see me," Bucky tried to prompt him to start talking, so he could get this conversation over with.

Now that Bucky was getting a closer look at him, he spotted something in that glimmer in Kraven's eyes. Not mischief, as he had first guessed. It was almost as if Kraven was a fan, but not a fan filled with love and appreciation, no… it was like someone possessed by their admiration to the point of obsession. _Obsession_, that was it. There was a crazed flair of obsession in his eyes, like a stalker. He kept looking Bucky up and down, licking his pointed teeth almost as if he lusted after his figure. Bucky tried to keep his face expressionless, utilizing his old training, for his own sake.

"[Yes, I see you now]," Kraven spoke in his native Russian.

"English only, pal," Bucky warned.

"For your friends?" Kraven asked, pointing to the mirror. He laughed again. "You think they can protect you? They can not save what is already lost."

"Look, I don't do games well," Bucky sighed. "Why don't you just cut to the chase and tell me what it is you wanted to say."

"Are you having trouble sleeping, Sergeant?" Kraven whispered through his thick accent. "It is hard for me to see you this way. Contained, broken, a semblance of the great man you once were… and what is worst part— you think you are _above_ me because of it."

Bucky squinted at this man, hating obliging this conversation.

"Did you know you have an 'L' shape scar on your left side?" Kraven asked. "Go ahead, look."

Bucky sighed and didn't move.

"I have a lot of scars," he said instead.

"I am the one who gave that to you!" Kraven pointed into his chest proudly. "You almost bled to death! And this one here," Kraven showed him a brown blotch on his right shoulder. "Here you stab me with a knife, see?!"

"I'm still waiting for your point."

"The point is, we are written upon each other, you and I. Is that not beautiful? Poetic, I think. You and I, we are… perfect. I have dreamed of fighting you again for a very long time."

Kraven leaned close across the chrome table, his chains jingling on the metal. His voice fell to a husky low, reverting back to his native tongue again.

"[But shooting a lion in a cage is bad sport.]"

"[I will never go back.]" Bucky humored him by replying in Russian.

"[You had no choice then, you will have no choice now. They have already surrounded you. And I can't wait to see you again.]"

Bucky didn't realize that he was breathing heavy now. Having had his fill, he arose from his chair, and headed for the door.

"[Say hello to that beautiful girl for me,]" he called out just as Bucky's finger hit the doorknob. "While she is still pretty," he added in English, cackling sinisterly.

Bucky exited as quickly as he could now, practically flying down the hall back to the elevator. Sam and the others rushed to catch up, but it took them a few moments.

"Barnes, what did he say in Russian?" Agent Ross demanded desperately. "Barnes?"

But Bucky's mind was somewhere else, a distant battlefield, the calls of Tony's mother, the horrified looks on the faces of the children whose fathers he killed in front of them… The screams, all those haunting screams…

"Bucky!" he heard Sam call out, shaking him by the shoulder. "Jesus, man, get a grip. He really got under your skin, huh?"

"He said," Bucky panted. "He said that we were already surrounded."

**~RR~**

**Please review!  
Signed,**  
**-RedRogue**


	7. Chapter 7: The Photograph

**Chapter 7: The Photograph**

**~RR~**

After it was confirmed that there were no hostiles within a mile radius of the building, Agent Ross ordered an extra team of men to stakeout all corners of the premise. Bucky couldn't help but still be on edge, even knowing that this was probably just a power play on Kraven's part, it didn't stop him from playing right into it.

He kept going over the translation in his head. '_They have already surrounded you'_ had a small area for gray. He could mean that they were already here, already around the building, or inside somehow waiting to strike… But it could also mean that they were already surrounding him in a spiritual sense, that they were already a part of him in a way he couldn't avoid.

After he got over his unease enough to oversee Kraven being properly locked back into his cell, Sam suggested going to the gym to blow off steam. Bucky was learning that Sam was pretty good at that.

"I mean, you're looking like you need to lay off the sandwiches anyway, maybe cut back on that mayo, son," Sam teased, hitting Bucky's torso playfully. "What was your last weigh-in, like over two-twenty?"

"I keep telling you," Bucky insisted. "The arm itself weighs fifty pounds!"

"You can't sell me on that anymore, not since Wakanda. They do their shit right."

"Oh yeah, well, what was your last weigh-in, then?"

"I don't see your point."

"Sounds _bad_…" Bucky pestered.

When they reached a gym, Sam went straight for the treadmills, so Bucky followed. Bucky kicked his speed right up to ten, while Sam had to lay back at a six, much to his dismay.

"Hey man, speaking of unfair advantages," Sam sounded winded already. "You notice Sarah seems to be picking up things a little quickly? Like, a little _too_ quickly?"

"Like military level quickly or like, beginner gymnastics quickly?"

"She's fired a gun before, man. I mean, what do we really know about this chick besides her relation to Steve? I know S.H.I..E.L.D. probably has a file by now. Did you see a file? I didn't see a file…"

"I mean," Bucky offered. "We could just ask her."

Sam stopped his run to look at Bucky incredulously, so he stopped his treadmill too.

"Boy, you literally have _zero_ game," Sam shook his head at him with disgust.

"You can't keep calling me 'boy' and 'son' when I'm decades older than you."

"It's more of a familiar thing than an age thing."

"Oh, like calling me 'dude' even though we're nowhere near a ranch?"

Sam took a step back and put a hand over his heart, as if he was going to swoon over from shock like an old Southern woman.

"I'm a fast learner too," Bucky grinned, pleased with himself.

**~RR~**

Later that night, after Bucky finished sitting in on the briefing of late shift, he poked his head into Sam's room to see if he was at rest. There he was, sleeping in an armchair instead of the bed. Sam bragged that he could 'sleep anytime, anywhere' and he seemed to only prove that point more the longer Bucky stuck by his side.

Bucky tried to resist the urge to check on Sarah next, but failed in the attempt. He hated to admit it, but he was getting addicted to that warm familiarity he felt whenever she was close by. A little detective work informed Bucky that Sarah had never even tried to go to bed that night. He found her in the lower levels, where she was with no other than Professor Hulk himself, talking deeply about some pieces of metal on a table.

Once they noticed Bucky enter the room, they seemed to grow secretive and uncomfortable. Bucky tried to make a guess at what they were working on, but it just seemed like a bunch of spare parts on a table to him.

"Hey Bruce, I didn't know you were here."

"Oh," Bruce shrugged. "I just stopped by to drop some stuff off in the lab."

Bucky frowned, knowing he wasn't going to get anything out of him. He turned to Sarah next.

"I wanted to make sure you got some sleep tonight," Bucky told Sarah. "We don't know why kind of day we're going to have tomorrow, so, you know… should get some rest while you can."

"Okay, yeah, sure," Sarah agreed, taking wayward glances at Bruce. "Goodnight, Bruce…"

"Goodnight, Sarah, I'll see you tomorrow," Bruce said very assuredly.

They nodded in their mutual secret, and Bucky made sure Bruce saw his frown, hating being on the outside of whatever this was.

When they reached the elevator, and Bucky hit the dorm floor button, he waited expectantly to see if she would volunteer any enlightenment. She didn't.

"So, he's making something for you..." Bucky stated with more sorrow than displeasure.

"I told you I wasn't going to sit idly by," she countered, keeping her gaze strictly on the shifting floor numbers above the elevator door. "And I meant it."

Bucky couldn't help but respect her resolve, something that reminded him a lot of when he had first met Steve. He felt that warm feeling wash over him again.

"I'm not going to stop you," Bucky replied.

"I'd love to see you try…" Sarah replied with a smile, a smile that quickly faltered when she realized it sounded like flirting.

The elevator soon dinged to their floor, and Bucky followed behind her a few paces awkwardly.

"Hey, look," Bucky announced with a small cough to clear his throat. Sarah stopped walking and turned to face him instead. "About how I acted before… There's no excuse."

Sarah laughed good-naturedly.

"Yeah, not my finest moment either," Sarah agreed, lowering her head in shame. "It's hard for me to be around you _too_, you know."

Bucky frowned and drew back in surprise, having not realized that perspective before.

"What, why?" Bucky breathed pensively.

Sarah looked like she regretted admitting it. She huffed impatiently and shook her head to stall.

After a beat, she looked him dead in the eye, as if searching for something.

"You still don't know…?" she uttered, something feeble sneaking into her voice against her will.

After the exchange drifted to silence, Sarah began to fidget, her expression going desperate. She sniffed and began to turn to leave again.

"The thing is…" Bucky called out to stop her, then suddenly became very aware of how sweaty his palms were. He wiped them on his pants and powered forward. "The thing is…"

She raised her eyebrows at him, in what appeared to be hopefulness. Bucky sighed in defeat. Every time he was faced with this hurdle, he felt paralyzed by the ridiculousness of it all. Saying it out loud just felt like he was giving it power, when it was something so stupid in the first place.

"God, I used to be so much better at this," Bucky complained to himself, wiping frustrated hands over his face.

Sarah caught his eye, and put a sympathetic hand to his cheek, stroking his face with her thumb with fondness. She looked at him the way a mother looked at a child when he asked questions that were beyond him. There were definitely tears welling in her eyes, and it confused him.

She leaned in, and for a second Bucky thought she was going to kiss him, but she instead brushed her face against his five o'clock shadow, and lightly pressed her lips on his jawline.

"This is messy," she explained when she met his gaze again. "Let's leave it at that, shall we?"

She walked away and left a sinking feeling in Bucky's stomach. Did she just look at him with pity? Perhaps what was so 'messy' was she knew how he felt for her and didn't feel the same? His mind had already been fully of questions and she just added a thousand more.

Great. Just great.

**~RR~**

As the clock struck midnight, Bucky waved at Farley, a security guard at the reception desk, who nodded at him and buzzed him into Records room. Bucky took his time mulling about the long walk of shelves, going to a familiar row he visited so often the small brown paper box was starting to show wear. He carried the box to a small card table where Farley and some of his coworkers sometimes played Texas Hold-Em. Bucky made himself comfortable in the metal chair.

The Rogers' file had a pleasant mixture of brown file folders from the nineteen-forties, and some modern yellow folders from present day. Bucky was only here for the pictures. Some of the files were from mere months ago, and it helped aid the fantasy that his friend was just out there somewhere, still alive, still dancing in a living room with his one-true-love.

He gazed over the modern photos, the realized that there were a few new ones in the bunch that definitely were not there last time. Pictures of Steve at his family holidays, graduations, weddings, and every single one of them had Sarah somewhere. They must've just added these after her arrival…

Sam was right. It meant they were researching her. She must have her own file, with the same photos. Bucky rummaged through the file box, and found it wedged into the side. There was her name. It didn't take much for curiosity to outweigh his ethics, and he opened it. There were the copies of the photos, as he predicted. There was a page of her hair/eye color, etc, but also transcripts of where she went to college, work resumes, bank statements… everything.

He flipped through a few of the pictures of her and her bikini-clad girlfriends in Greece.

That's when he saw it.

He blinked a few times, trying to squint under the florescent lighting, not quite registering what he was seeing. He picked it up to get a closer look at something in the background. He dropped the photo and jumped up to his feet, the chair screeching loudly in protest.

No way…

**~RR~**

**Please take the time to review, it encourages me to continue!  
Signed,**  
**-RedRogue**


	8. Chapter 8: The Black

**Chapter 8: The Black**

**~RR~**

Sarah woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep, as was common since she'd come here, where several crazed individuals were in cells only floors beneath her. She mulled over her emotional conversation with James Barnes, and all her various regrets about how it went down. But most of all, she thought of her one big secret, and how she was ever going to tell him.

There was an abrupt interruption to the silence in the form of a firm knocking on her door. She glanced at her phone's clock, which read almost two AM. Who in the hell? When they knocked again, she wore it sounded like metal clanging.

She grabbed at some sweats to put over her boyshort underwear and quickly checked her mess of hair before finally opening the door.

Her heart jumped at the sight of him. His face said it all. Distraught, betrayed, but mostly confused. She had so many things she wanted to explain, but didn't know where to begin.

"You know." She stated it cautiously.

His nose flared as if fighting to keep his composure, but he offered no other answer.

"How'd you find out?" She breathed to the ground.

Bucky kept his silence, just handed her a small Polaroid. In the picture she was in the middle between two friends, Illyana and Teresa, in swimsuits with the Grecian landscape behind them. But as she looked closer, she could see it plainly in the reflection of a car window.

Bucky, himself, was holding the camera.

Sarah lowered the picture and stared right at him, patiently waiting for him to speak first. She tried to gauge his expression, but he was still.

"We knew each other," Bucky sounded like he was guessing. Sarah let out a breath she had been holding, then smiled broadly.

Finally. _Finally…_

"Yeah," she nodded, then waited some more.

"Were we…" Bucky shook his head, unable to process. "Have we…?"

"Yeah…" Sarah agreed with another nod. Her eyes were starting to water. She couldn't help but feel so relieved.

Bucky put his hand over his mouth and backed away in shock. She noticed his eyes welling up too. Everything in her ached to just hold him, to stroke his hair, to tell him it was all okay, but she felt it best not to make any sudden moves.

"James…?" Sarah's voice cracked.

She could sense it, as she called him by his first name like she used to… it was the first thing that truly struck a chord of memory, rather than just familiarity. She could see the recognition in his eyes, though he was trying to wrestle it off.

"You didn't say anything?" Bucky asked.

"I guess, I didn't see the point," she confessed. "You don't know me _now_… So, it just felt… See, when they took Hydra out, I went along with it. And I figured that was it."

"Did Steve know?" Bucky interrupted.

"Yeah, he knew," Sarah confirmed.

Sarah stepped aside, out of the doorway, and gestured for him to enter the room. He helped himself to a seat in the corner by a small aluminum desk. He seemed to be out of questions, yet full of them at the same time. She let him take his time.

Truthfully, Sarah never thought she'd have to deal with these memories ever again, that is, until he showed up at her grandfather's wake. She should've known he'd be there, yet she had been so surprised to see his face again after so long. How could she ever begin to tell him that she knew every scar on his body? How he was insecure about his hairline receding? How much he liked olives on his pizza? How he wanted to slow dance every time he heard Billie Holiday?

She had to suffer through his blank, absent face all over again, just like in Wakanda when he first woke up and introduced himself to her.

Everything about their entire relationship, their first meeting, their long nights together, all the stupid fights, everything… gone in mere hours. Like it had never existed. It had broken her in half.

It wasn't her James. It was just someone that looked an awful lot like him, smelled like him, twitched his mouth the same way. It was almost worse now that her secret was out, that he knew some semblance of what he had once meant to her, yet still nothing could come of it.

"How long?" Bucky finally broke the silence.

Sarah found herself not wanting to admit it. She feared what it would mean if he knew the entire extent of it. She pushed through.

"Not even a year," she answered. "But it was a really good year."

"So, we've…" Bucky sat up in discomfort at his own question, sniffing and clearing his throat. "We've, uh…"

Sarah snickered.

"Wow, is it really _that_ hard to believe?"

"No, it's…" Bucky shook his head, and wiped a hand over his hair sheepishly. "I just _really_ wish I could remember."

They shared an awkward chuckle.

She fought hard to remind herself that nothing had changed currently just because he'd seen a photo. It didn't mean he remembered any of the promises he had once made to her. It didn't mean anything.

"Look, I get that the person that I knew is dead, or at least gone," Sarah hoped the statement would be comforting to him, or at least to herself. "I made my peace with it a while ago, so… you don't have to feel like you owe me anything. I was perfectly fine going along the way we were."

A lie, a bold-faced lie- but how could she ever begin to let on how much it was eating her alive, every single day?

Bucky blew out a wistful breath, and he kept that faraway look in his eyes. She had always found it so irritating that she could never get a proper read on what he was thinking.

He got up slowly, stretched a bit. She caught a glimpse of hipbone when he lifted his arms above his head and she felt lightheaded. Her James… He was so close… but so far, all the same.

"Were you fine?" Bucky asked. "Because, _I_ wasn't."

He walked over to where she sat on her assigned bed. Then, very simply, he bent down and he kissed her.

She was surprised at first, receiving him gently. His hands grasped her jaw as if afraid she was going to pull away. He kissed her lightly with an easy brush of his lips, almost teasing. She realized that he was almost asking permission, his movement cautious and coy. Maybe he was concerned for how long it had been since he last kissed someone, or if it was just how they did it back in his day…

Sarah had waited too long for cautiousness, and the yearning for what she had been missing took over her. She deepened the kiss and he inhaled abruptly in response. Everything came back to her at once, that smoky smell about him, his hair falling in his eyes, the way his cold metal fingers on her neck made her hair stand on end. Her brain fogged over and she concentrated on the feel of his tongue, hot breath, hearing him gasp, or maybe that was her?

She almost called out in dismay as he pulled away from her, winded, seemingly checking on her. His eyes were widened and his brow furrowed in concern. Sarah suddenly wondered if she had gone too far, too fast.

"I'm sorry," she asked. "It's tough to believe you don't remember anything, because _that_ was…"

He smirked a bit, a glint of mischief in his eyes that she knew all-too-well.

"Maybe we should keep going, you know, just to be sure-"

"-Yeah, might as well be thorough…"

As he leaned for her mouth once more, a red light started to flash outside the door, and soon after, the blaring alarm followed. Something was wrong.

Sarah rushed out into the hallway right behind Bucky, the same time Sam and several other agents were hurrying out of their doors. She caught Sam give Bucky a suspicious look for emerging out of Sarah's room.

Sam's phone started to ring, and he answered as agents rushed by him to abide protocol.

"Yeah?" Sam spoke to what Sarah could assume was Agent Hill. "How?"

Bucky exchanged glances with Sarah.

"Stay with me," he ordered her, and she nodded, wanting nothing else.

Sam hung up the phone and sighed in heavy frustration.

"Seems like everyone has holo-tech these days," he complained.

"Come again?" Bucky's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Kraven's out of his cell. The security officers just discovered out they've been watching a projection- they don't know for how long."

"He could be anywhere by now," Sarah let fear make her state the obvious.

"We should go top deck," Sam suggested. "Meet up with the others-"

"—Sam."

Bucky nodded towards a vent, were a colored gas was creeping slowly outward. One agent who was late exiting his chamber, started coughing and falling to his knees. Bucky ran to him to help him back to his feet and let him hurry off on his own.

"Stairs!" Sam ordered them, as he rushed back into his room.

"Sam!" Bucky called after him with worry. Sam re-emerged with his goggles on, strapping on Steve's iconic shield.

"Go!" Sam ordered, and Bucky didn't need to be told again.

Together, they ran up the stairs, trying to weave their way through the agents pouring downward.

"Stay away from level six!" Sarah shouted after them.

"It's on every level!" one shouted back.

Then, the lights flickered once and then everything went black. Sarah felt a hand on her shoulder, gently guiding her through the darkness, and it was a small comfort in the midst of panic.

"Sam, you got infrared?" she heard Bucky say next to her.

"Yeah," Sam's voice replied. "No target yet. Keep going."

Sarah kept one hand stretched out to find the wall as a guide. Steps were treacherous without eyes, she soon discovered, but Bucky's hand, now slightly clutching her shirt, helped to keep balance. She blinked a few times to try and adjust to the abyss around her, but it didn't help.

"Anything?" Bucky called out.

"I think you can trust that I will let you know if I-"

Sam cut himself off as a strange clamoring was heard. Sarah was clutching Bucky's arm now. The deafening quiet made their panting sound louder than a dump truck.

Another rustling was heard and Sarah felt Bucky separate from her. As soon as she felt his touch abandon her shoulder, panic immediately followed as she searched the darkness for him.

"James?" she heaved his name through the throbbing in her chest. "Bucky?"

She waved her hand out again, desperate to feel another person, trying not to let her fear overtake her survival instincts. She gulped in air and felt terror forming tears in her eyes.

She felt a hand slip into hers. A cold, metal hand. It was the most relieving thing she could've felt.

"Sam saw him and rushed ahead," Bucky whispered. "Don't let go."

"I won't," she assured him with more meaning behind it than he could possibly realize.

Together, they ascended five staircases until at last they reached the doorway to the roof.

As the door creaked open, Sarah couldn't help but gasp at the sight of the agent bodies scattered on the ground, and in the center, that famous shield, alone in the middle of the helipad. Sam, however, was nowhere to be seen.

**~RR~**

**Please review!  
Signed,**  
**-RedRogue**


	9. Chapter 9: The Suit

**Chapter 9: The Suit**

**~RR~**

The wind kicked up in the altitude's open air, whistling through the satellite towers, radars and solar panels around them. Everything seemed still, yet threatening all the same. With the alarms power gone out, everything was eerily quiet, with only the red lights flashing soundlessly on backup generator power. Sarah's heart was going a mile a minute, walking into a scene that emulated discomfort like a bad dream. This was a thriller with the monster yet to show himself.

Yet, even through it all, she knew that half the reason her heart raced was for the hand holding her own. Could he feel her squeezing it through the metal? Likely not, but it didn't deter her from doing it.

Bucky was alert, sound-minded, and so calm that Sarah wondered if that was just how he embodied his fear.

"Sam?" Bucky called out cautiously.

Before she saw him, she could smell him, that wretched smell of something rotting. Something whooshed and cackled to their left, but too fast for their eyes to catch. Kraven was definitely here, and apparently, having loads of fun.

"Sergei!" Bucky called out, trading his metal hand grasping Sarah's for his real one as he whirled around to check all corners of the rooftop. "Show yourself!"

A figure above uncloaked himself and dropped down from a satellite tower. Kraven bent and picked up the shield, admiring it for a moment, before he flung it violently off the roof.

Sarah tightened on Bucky's hand. He felt it this time.

"Where is Sam?" Bucky demanded.

"Fighting you like this," Sergei spoke through his teeth. "It is an unfair disadvantage to you. You are distracted by your friends. So, I offer a choice to you. Either, willingly, you return to Hydra with me… Or I eliminate your distractions. Right now."

Bucky glared back, and didn't miss a beat.

"Like hell."

Kraven frowned his bewilderment, and leaned closer.

"I'm sorry, I did not quite hear you."

Bucky took a deep breath and let go of Sarah's hand.

"I said... Like _he_-"

Everything happened too fast to comprehend after that. Bucky lunged, but Kraven was faster, a few punches were thrown but he was agile, bouncing to and fro like he was a piece of paper in the wind. Bucky called out in frustration as he was unable to land a single blow.

Sarah felt helpless and hated the feeling. She searched around for something, anything useful, and found a brick. Aiming carefully, she waited for the perfect shot, and hurled it. It hit Kraven square in the back of his neck. He didn't like that.

Almost instantly, Kraven was behind her, a full set of sharpened nails clutching her tiny neck, and everyone froze.

Sarah knew struggling was pointless, as he was a beastly giant, almost encompassing her. He smelled her hair, and petted her a bit on her head, then her shoulders in the creepiest way possible, in what she assumed were moves catered towards aggravating Bucky. He managed to remain stoic. Anger steamed from him, his breathing forced, but he kept himself steady.

Unfortunately, she was not so steady. The smell engulfed her to the point of gagging, the grip on her neck made her eyes tear up and blood rush her face. She struggled against him, but it was like she was caught in a noose after the trapdoor had already fallen under her.

"It's all so simple," Sergei gloated in her ear. "You find where it lives, then you smoke the monster out."

"Enough, Sergei," Bucky spat at him with impatience. She wondered if Kraven could see the cracks in his composure like she could. "It's about you and me so let's just finish this."

"You know, some animals exert their dominance by taking another's mate for themselves."

"Yeah, the Animal Planet bullshit was old before it started," Sarah chimed out irritably, using snide to cover up terror. "And you smell like port-a-potty on a hot day…"

His grip tightened around her neck, and she felt the hot trails of blood emerging from his pointed nails digging into her. She couldn't speak even if she wanted to now.

"Hmm, spirited," Sergei approved. "The tougher ones offer the most pride… when you finally break them."

Sarah found eyelines with Bucky at this statement, and they had a silent exchange of horror. Kraven's wicked gaze glimmered in excitement.

"Let her go," Bucky ordered, his voice low. "Fight me, right now. It's what you want, isn't it? It's what all of this is about?"

Sergei took another deep whiff of her hair.

"Hmm... _Soldat_, I find my priorities starting to change. I admit, you picked a very fine distraction… And it has been a long time…"

Sarah feared for Bucky's reaction. His panic was starting to become visible now, seeping through in the form of shaking arms, white knuckles, the blood gone from his face. His breath was sharp and jagged through gritting teeth. He now seemed to be weighing his options, and Sarah feared the worst. She caught his eye long enough to shake her head no at him.

"_Don't_," she mouthed.

His eyes went glazed, and he blinked back the wetness of them. She had him beat, her hot tears making solid trails down her cheeks.

"He was never yours," Sergei hissed in Sarah's ear. "Only Hydra's. You cannot put a collar on a monster and call it tame."

Sergei looked back to Bucky once more, who never looked more defeated.

"Are you ready to comply?"

Bucky frowned, but nodded.

"Yes."

"NO-!"

Sarah was interrupted by a needle stabbing into her neck, and all immediately went dark.

**~RR~**

When Sarah finally came to, she felt like she had been hit by a G6. She could barely turn her head without a sharp pain in her neck. She sat up and took off the neck brace, rubbing the pain to gauge the damage. _Severe_, she concluded, feeling five holes in her throat that would surely leave scars.

She saw Sam laying in a bed across from her, unconscious and she hoped the visible scrapes and bruises were the worst of it.

Her heart was heavy as she rose up in the otherwise empty room, so many questions filling her head, but one question was the most prominent. Where was James?

The door opened to her left and Bruce ducked a bit to enter through the doorway.

"Oh, good, you're awake," he smiled cheerfully. "You should probably lie back down-"

"Where is Bucky?" Sarah demanded.

Bruce coughed through his discomfort.

"We can assume… Russia, is a safe guess," he said softly.

Sarah hopped to her feet. She spotted some clothes on a chair and grabbed them.

"Did the S and R team already leave?"

"'S and R'?" Bruce drew back in confusion.

" Yeah, Search and Rescue...?"

"Sarah," Bruce interjected sympathetically. "There... is no team. For all we know, he's already… you know, one of _them_."

"He has _never_ been one of them," Sarah corrected firmly. "And we're not going to just going to leave him to the wolves. I know for a fact, that you know _exactly_ where to start."

Bruce took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Look, I know you're no joke," he emphasized. "But this isn't some mafia cartel in a C.I.A. sting, this is… this is _Hydra_."

"Bruce…" Sarah stared him dead in the eye. "This is _Bucky_."

Bruce sighed, giving up.

"I might know a girl," he conceded.

**~RR~**

Sarah went to the lower levels to grab the suit Bruce had been working on for her. Navy and white were her chosen colors, to honor her grandfather's S.H.I.E.L.D. issue stealth suit. She strapped on the guns around her wrists, loaded full of Stark nanotech that she may or may not know how to use. Just as she was finished strapping on her belt, there was a cough at the doorway.

Clint Barton leaned casually on the doorframe, taking a moment to take in the outfit.

"While I admire the spangly throwback," he remarked pleasantly. "I must say, though, it lacks a certain… Serum?"

"You're not going to talk me out of this," Sarah countered.

"I know, that's why Bruce called me," Clint retorted. Sarah just noticed he had his quiver and bow already strapped on his back.

"It's a good thing you have me, too," he chuckled jokingly. "Because Wanda, you know, she's completely useless. She's waiting in the jet. You ready?"

Sarah strapped her hair back into a high pony. She couldn't deny she was scared out of her mind, but she'll be damned if she'd let onto it. After a moment, she nodded resolutely.

When they reached the Quinjet, Clint went straight for the cockpit, while Wanda lingered behind to shake Sarah's hand.

"Your grandfather, he was…" Wanda started, but trailed off, looking embarrassed for even bringing it up.

"Thank you," Sarah replied anyway, feeling like she already could guess whatever it was Wanda had wanted to get across.

"You sure about this?" Wanda asked with one hand on the jet's door, ready to close it behind her. Sarah went up and closed it for her.

"Look, I know you both think I'm in over my head," Sarah insisted. Wanda threw a look to Bruce. "And I—I probably am… I'm not trying to kid myself, but I'm not completely incapable either... And I don't care what anyone thinks, in fact, there's only one thing I care about right now, and that's doing _everything_ I can to get him back."

They were interrupted by the Quinjet door opening again, and Sam appeared in full Falcon getup. He lifted his goggles to his forehead to look at them properly, and pointed sternly.

"You're not going to talk me out of this," Sam announced before anyone could say a word.

Sarah raised up her hands in immediate surrender, and Wanda followed suit. Sam helped himself to the co-pilot's seat, and Clint nodded to him and then to Sarah in turn.

"Let's go get your boy," Clint grinned reassuringly.

**~RR~**

**Please review!  
Signed,**  
**-RedRogue**


	10. Chapter 10: The Trigger

**Chapter 10: The Trigger**

**~RR~**

As they landed in a clear patch of a dense Siberian forest, Sarah was already sweating. She wondered if she was the only one, sitting there sweating in custom-made synthetics when there was snow on the ground outside.

They had a plan, Wanda and Clint were going in first to get to a control room, and Sam and her would bully their way down to the labs in the meantime.

Sarah tried to fight off the sense of guilt that she had brought them into this dangerous situation, but to them it seemed like another day at work, so she tried not to let it eat away at her for long.

As the two pairs separated, Sarah took deep breaths in her best attempts to keep her heart steady. It didn't escape Sam's notice.

"I'm not too proud to take some advice right now," she asked nervously.

"You know," Sam offered. "In Steve and Bucky's day, they used to have military officers go straight from college to commanding entire squads against Nazi forces. You can probably guess why that didn't work."

"No field experience," Sarah stated.

Sam nodded confirmation, his eyes still fixed ahead as they trudged through ankle deep snow.

"From what I understand, your grandfather was put in a situation not unlike this very one, rescuing Sergeant Barnes with about the same amount of experience and the same amount of gumption. Steve made it out because—well, because of the Serum- but he also played it smart. Don't lose your head when shit starts hitting fans."

"Smart, got it," Sarah acquiesced. Instead of centering on her worry and dismay over what they might be doing to James in that very moment, she forced her brain to focus on her surroundings, her senses, and kept her eyes peeled.

When they spotted a fence, Sam let out Redwing for recon. A blast was heard on the other side of the building, which she could only assume was Wanda and Clint clearing the way for them.

Sarah hit Sam and pointed off into the distant trees, where a fur-cloaked figure was jumping from the trees and into the building to answer the commotion.

"Heads up, we got eyes on Mowgli," Sam said into his earpiece. "Just entered east end of the building."

"Good, I was just thinking we were one mental patient short," they heard Clint reply.

They quietly followed Kraven's point of entry. Sam took out two guards easily enough on his own, but Sarah could tell that every movement pained him.

"You gonna be okay?" Sarah asked sympathetically.

"Don't worry, it's just my entire body." Sam joked encouragingly. "Let's go."

Together, she and Sam managed to clear corners as a team, and finally, found a door marked to a restricted area.

"Clint, how long until you reach the controls?" Sam asked.

A fuse seemed to blow, and the light above the door turned green.

"Does that answer your question?" Clint replied.

The lower they went, the closer the air felt, the more the smell of must attacked their noses. They entered a level that was filled with metal doors, with small windows of empty padded cells. At the very end, Sarah spotted Bucky strapped shirtless to a chair, his metal arm gone. A doctor rushed to close the door at the sight of them, just as guards began to shoot from around the corner.

"James!" Sarah shouted, starting to rush at the door before it closed, but Sam grabbed her seemingly out of midair and yanked her behind another corner.

"PLAY IT SMART!" Sam yelled at her over the barrage of bullets.

_AHHHHH!_

Bucky's screams came through louder than the gunshots, just as the door clanged shut. She felt herself starting to lose her head.

"Smart, okay," Sarah muttered to herself, trying to regain some control.

_AHHHHH!_

But his screams, god… it made her heart wrench and her emotions took over her.

Across from her, she saw Sam point to her gauntlets.

"Purely decorative, I assume?" He spat out sarcastically.

She looked to her gloves, namely the nanotech strapped to them, and messed with a few buttons.

From around the corner, she fired one off. A small metal disk with a white star plinked into the hallway, skipping like a small stone before it settled before the guards. After a second, it popped out fifty more disks just like it, right into their faces, and they simultaneously dropped to the ground. She was just as shocked as Sam was, who looked at her with approval.

"You said Bruce made that for you?" he asked with an envious tone. "Does it have a friend? Redwing always needs more buddies…"

More guards began to appear from the hallway behind them, forcing them to move onward.

"I got you covered!" Sam shouted, pointing towards the direction of Bucky.

Sarah focused her attention on the large metal door, as thick as a vault. A few more buttons made new disks appear, this time sharp ones that spun and grew red hot. She held her breath and focused on the hinges, as Sam and his Redwing returned fire. Her hands shook enough to prevent truly accurate aim, as Bucky's screams continue beyond the door. This must've been the 'shit hitting the fan' moment that Sam had been describing.

_AHHHHHHH!_

She felt the tears from desperation threaten the corner of her eyes, but she made her hands obey when her head was screaming with Bucky.

"James! WE'RE RIGHT HERE!" Sarah yelled frantically. "JUST HANG ON!"

The second hinge clinked to the floor and she moved on to the last one.

"One more!" She called out to Sam, who was crouching behind his wingspan as a shield against the intense fire.

"Don't talk, just keep going!" Sam ordered. He cried out suddenly and grabbed at his ankle.

"Ow, you shot my foot, _really_?! Clint, where the hell are you guys?"

"Sam, buddy, you sound upset…"

"I GOT IT!" Sarah yelled as the last hinge fell to the floor. She shot a disk into the lock and opened the door.

Immediately, she jerked the door and stood back as it fell, kicking up dust as it made contact with the ground. Sarah noticed the guards were no longer shooting at them, as all eyes were on what was inside. Sam fired at the three guards left while they hesitated, and the room went quiet after that.

A few scientists in coats stepped aside to reveal Bucky strapped to a chair. Sarah shoved a scientist aside to get to him, violently loosening the straps on his feet as quickly as possible. Bucky caught eyes with her, and her heart stopped. His eyes were blank and faraway, as if drugged.

"Bucky?" She whispered. "It's me—it's Sarah."

His eyes blinked for a moment, and Sarah's heart nearly gave out when he looked at her with recognition.

"Sarah…" he repeated, relief swelling into his eyes.

"He knows me, thank god," Sarah breathed, helping him sit upright. Sam saw her struggling and went to help. Sam was holding his metal arm, trying to get it to attach back to its place on his shoulder, with some struggle.

"This is why you read the manual first," Sam commented, some of the wires attaching but the arm was still hanging limply off Bucky.

"Sam, ya old softie," Bucky crooned. "All that moxie can't get you the front of the ferris wheel."

Sarah looked at Sam, who raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"W-_what_?" Sam bursting to hold back his laughter.

"I'm just sayin', you all are two shakes short of a lizard's tail and I ain't buyin' it."

Sarah shot Sam a look of _extreme_ concern.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Sam assured her quickly, forcing his face to get serious again. He abandoned his efforts on his arm and let it be for now. "Let's just get him out of here."

They left the scientists to look at one another with bewilderment as Sam pulled Bucky's remaining arm around his shoulder to help him walk.

As they hurried with him, checking around corners to get back to the staircase, Bucky kept staring with a strange grin at Sarah without relent.

"I like your face," Bucky whispered.

"Thank you, but you have to be quiet now, James," Sarah ordered, and shot Sam another angry looked for giggling again.

"Clint, we're on our way back up," Sam said into his earpiece, but frowned when there was no reply. "Clint, you copy? Wanda? _Anyone_ copy?"

Sarah visibly communicated her worry to Sam, which he returned.

"HELLO, WELCOME!" Kraven's distinguishable voice called out over a booming P.A. system. "Today, we have someone dying to meet you! But first, say goodbye to Sergeant Barnes after these short messages… [Longing.]"

All breath seemed to leave Sam's body. All of the scientists in the room they had come from began to look at one another in fear.

"Tell me they didn't," Sam muttered, suddenly turning Bucky around so he could look him directly in the eyes. "They only had you for like, a second… They didn't put it back in… There wasn't enough time…"

"[Rusted]," the words continued overhead, like the voice of God.

"Put what back in?" Sarah asked with confusion.

The men in lab coats scrambled around one another to get as far away from them as they could.

"They didn't have you for seventy-two hours," Sam reasoned to Bucky, searching for reassurance. "There's no way they had time to…"

"[Seventeen]."

"Sam…" Bucky blinked in more confusion than before, suddenly sobering up, and Sam immediately reacted.

"Shit, shit, shit," he chattered, slinging Bucky on his shoulder and looking around for inspiration on what to do next.

"What's happening?!" Sarah demanded to know.

"Sarah, GET BACK!" Sam directed frantically. "Find the others!"

Thankfully, she took off without further question.

"[Daybreak]."

Sam turned to the nearest audio output and fired at it, but the voice still floated through the air like an angry ghost.

"[Furnace]."

Sam and Bucky trailed the hallway far behind, Bucky's bare feet dragging. Sarah looked back to Bucky just in time to see him look to Sam with solemn, nightmarish panic.

"[Benign]."

"You gotta go," Bucky told Sam.

"Shut up unless you're contributing," Sam replied assuredly. "We just got to make it to the stairs and I can fly you out."

"[Homecoming]."

"No, you don't understand!" Bucky's harsh yell made Sam stop. "It's different this time!"

"[One]."

Sarah was halfway up the building by the time she spotted Sam and Bucky reach the bottom of the stairs. Sam's jetpack immediately ignited, and her heart lifted in hope as they flew up past her.

"[Freight car]."

The voice echoed through the empty staircase, and Sam touched down on the top landing and paused. All breath left Sarah's body.

"AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST…" The voice called out gleefully overhead. "_Sputnik_."

Sam held Bucky by the shoulders to get a good look at him.

"Talk to me, Buck," Sam ordered. "You still with us?"

**~RR~**

**Please review!  
Signed,**  
**-RedRogue**


	11. Chapter 11: The Nightmare

**Chapter 10: The Trigger**

**~RR~**

As they landed in a clear patch of a dense Siberian forest, Sarah was already sweating. She wondered if she was the only one, sitting there sweating in custom-made synthetics when there was snow on the ground outside.

They had a plan, Wanda and Clint were going in first to get to a control room, and Sam and her would bully their way down to the labs in the meantime.

Sarah tried to fight off the sense of guilt that she had brought them into this dangerous situation, but to them it seemed like another day at work, so she tried not to let it eat away at her for long.

As the two pairs separated, Sarah took deep breaths in her best attempts to keep her heart steady. It didn't escape Sam's notice.

"I'm not too proud to take some advice right now," she asked nervously.

"You know," Sam offered. "In Steve and Bucky's day, they used to have military officers go straight from college to commanding entire squads against Nazi forces. You can probably guess why that didn't work."

"No field experience," Sarah stated.

Sam nodded confirmation, his eyes still fixed ahead as they trudged through ankle deep snow.

"From what I understand, your grandfather was put in a situation not unlike this very one, rescuing Sergeant Barnes with about the same amount of experience and the same amount of gumption. Steve made it out because—well, because of the Serum- but he also played it smart. Don't lose your head when shit starts hitting fans."

"Smart, got it," Sarah acquiesced. Instead of centering on her worry and dismay over what they might be doing to James in that very moment, she forced her brain to focus on her surroundings, her senses, and kept her eyes peeled.

When they spotted a fence, Sam let out Redwing for recon. A blast was heard on the other side of the building, which she could only assume was Wanda and Clint clearing the way for them.

Sarah hit Sam and pointed off into the distant trees, where a fur-cloaked figure was jumping from the trees and into the building to answer the commotion.

"Heads up, we got eyes on Mowgli," Sam said into his earpiece. "Just entered east end of the building."

"Good, I was just thinking we were one mental patient short," they heard Clint reply.

They quietly followed Kraven's point of entry. Sam took out two guards easily enough on his own, but Sarah could tell that every movement pained him.

"You gonna be okay?" Sarah asked sympathetically.

"Don't worry, it's just my entire body." Sam joked encouragingly. "Let's go."

Together, she and Sam managed to clear corners as a team, and finally, found a door marked to a restricted area.

"Clint, how long until you reach the controls?" Sam asked.

A fuse seemed to blow, and the light above the door turned green.

"Does that answer your question?" Clint replied.

The lower they went, the closer the air felt, the more the smell of must attacked their noses. They entered a level that was filled with metal doors, with small windows of empty padded cells. At the very end, Sarah spotted Bucky strapped shirtless to a chair, his metal arm gone. A doctor rushed to close the door at the sight of them, just as guards began to shoot from around the corner.

"James!" Sarah shouted, starting to rush at the door before it closed, but Sam grabbed her seemingly out of midair and yanked her behind another corner.

"PLAY IT SMART!" Sam yelled at her over the barrage of bullets.

_AHHHHH!_

Bucky's screams came through louder than the gunshots, just as the door clanged shut. She felt herself starting to lose her head.

"Smart, okay," Sarah muttered to herself, trying to regain some control.

_AHHHHH!_

But his screams, god… it made her heart wrench and her emotions took over her.

Across from her, she saw Sam point to her gauntlets.

"Purely decorative, I assume?" He spat out sarcastically.

She looked to her gloves, namely the nanotech strapped to them, and messed with a few buttons.

From around the corner, she fired one off. A small metal disk with a white star plinked into the hallway, skipping like a small stone before it settled before the guards. After a second, it popped out fifty more disks just like it, right into their faces, and they simultaneously dropped to the ground. She was just as shocked as Sam was, who looked at her with approval.

"You said Bruce made that for you?" he asked with an envious tone. "Does it have a friend? Redwing always needs more buddies…"

More guards began to appear from the hallway behind them, forcing them to move onward.

"I got you covered!" Sam shouted, pointing towards the direction of Bucky.

Sarah focused her attention on the large metal door, as thick as a vault. A few more buttons made new disks appear, this time sharp ones that spun and grew red hot. She held her breath and focused on the hinges, as Sam and his Redwing returned fire. Her hands shook enough to prevent truly accurate aim, as Bucky's screams continue beyond the door. This must've been the 'shit hitting the fan' moment that Sam had been describing.

_AHHHHHHH!_

She felt the tears from desperation threaten the corner of her eyes, but she made her hands obey when her head was screaming with Bucky.

"James! WE'RE RIGHT HERE!" Sarah yelled frantically. "JUST HANG ON!"

The second hinge clinked to the floor and she moved on to the last one.

"One more!" She called out to Sam, who was crouching behind his wingspan as a shield against the intense fire.

"Don't talk, just keep going!" Sam ordered. He cried out suddenly and grabbed at his ankle.

"Ow, you shot my foot, _really_?! Clint, where the hell are you guys?"

"Sam, buddy, you sound upset…"

"I GOT IT!" Sarah yelled as the last hinge fell to the floor. She shot a disk into the lock and opened the door.

Immediately, she jerked the door and stood back as it fell, kicking up dust as it made contact with the ground. Sarah noticed the guards were no longer shooting at them, as all eyes were on what was inside. Sam fired at the three guards left while they hesitated, and the room went quiet after that.

A few scientists in coats stepped aside to reveal Bucky strapped to a chair. Sarah shoved a scientist aside to get to him, violently loosening the straps on his feet as quickly as possible. Bucky caught eyes with her, and her heart stopped. His eyes were blank and faraway, as if drugged.

"Bucky?" She whispered. "It's me—it's Sarah."

His eyes blinked for a moment, and Sarah's heart nearly gave out when he looked at her with recognition.

"Sarah…" he repeated, relief swelling into his eyes.

"He knows me, thank god," Sarah breathed, helping him sit upright. Sam saw her struggling and went to help. Sam was holding his metal arm, trying to get it to attach back to its place on his shoulder, with some struggle.

"This is why you read the manual first," Sam commented, some of the wires attaching but the arm was still hanging limply off Bucky.

"Sam, ya old softie," Bucky crooned. "All that moxie can't get you the front of the ferris wheel."

Sarah looked at Sam, who raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"W-_what_?" Sam bursting to hold back his laughter.

"I'm just sayin', you all are two shakes short of a lizard's tail and I ain't buyin' it."

Sarah shot Sam a look of _extreme_ concern.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Sam assured her quickly, forcing his face to get serious again. He abandoned his efforts on his arm and let it be for now. "Let's just get him out of here."

They left the scientists to look at one another with bewilderment as Sam pulled Bucky's remaining arm around his shoulder to help him walk.

As they hurried with him, checking around corners to get back to the staircase, Bucky kept staring with a strange grin at Sarah without relent.

"I like your face," Bucky whispered.

"Thank you, but you have to be quiet now, James," Sarah ordered, and shot Sam another angry looked for giggling again.

"Clint, we're on our way back up," Sam said into his earpiece, but frowned when there was no reply. "Clint, you copy? Wanda? _Anyone_ copy?"

Sarah visibly communicated her worry to Sam, which he returned.

"HELLO, WELCOME!" Kraven's distinguishable voice called out over a booming P.A. system. "Today, we have someone dying to meet you! But first, say goodbye to Sergeant Barnes after these short messages… [Longing.]"

All breath seemed to leave Sam's body. All of the scientists in the room they had come from began to look at one another in fear.

"Tell me they didn't," Sam muttered, suddenly turning Bucky around so he could look him directly in the eyes. "They only had you for like, a second… They didn't put it back in… There wasn't enough time…"

"[Rusted]," the words continued overhead, like the voice of God.

"Put what back in?" Sarah asked with confusion.

The men in lab coats scrambled around one another to get as far away from them as they could.

"They didn't have you for seventy-two hours," Sam reasoned to Bucky, searching for reassurance. "There's no way they had time to…"

"[Seventeen]."

"Sam…" Bucky blinked in more confusion than before, suddenly sobering up, and Sam immediately reacted.

"Shit, shit, shit," he chattered, slinging Bucky on his shoulder and looking around for inspiration on what to do next.

"What's happening?!" Sarah demanded to know.

"Sarah, GET BACK!" Sam directed frantically. "Find the others!"

Thankfully, she took off without further question.

"[Daybreak]."

Sam turned to the nearest audio output and fired at it, but the voice still floated through the air like an angry ghost.

"[Furnace]."

Sam and Bucky trailed the hallway far behind, Bucky's bare feet dragging. Sarah looked back to Bucky just in time to see him look to Sam with solemn, nightmarish panic.

"[Benign]."

"You gotta go," Bucky told Sam.

"Shut up unless you're contributing," Sam replied assuredly. "We just got to make it to the stairs and I can fly you out."

"[Homecoming]."

"No, you don't understand!" Bucky's harsh yell made Sam stop. "It's different this time!"

"[One]."

Sarah was halfway up the building by the time she spotted Sam and Bucky reach the bottom of the stairs. Sam's jetpack immediately ignited, and her heart lifted in hope as they flew up past her.

"[Freight car]."

The voice echoed through the empty staircase, and Sam touched down on the top landing and paused. All breath left Sarah's body.

"AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST…" The voice called out gleefully overhead. "_Sputnik_."

Sam held Bucky by the shoulders to get a good look at him.

"Talk to me, Buck," Sam ordered. "You still with us?"

**~RR~**

**Please review!  
Signed,**  
**-RedRogue**


	12. Chapter 12: The Song

**Chapter 12: The Song**

**~RR~**

Wanda led the way back to the lower level labs, while Sarah trailed behind with Bucky, looking at him with a sideways glance. She rubbed the bruise on her neck where Kraven had choked her, then the bruises on her shoulders where Bucky had shoved her into the wall. God, she hated that complete lack of recognition in his eyes when it came to her, back in her face once again. She felt herself feeling the same way she had in Wakanda when he had first woken up after being cured of all this the first time. She hated all of it. The injustice of it all. None of this was his fault, but then again, he had never laid hands on her before.

She watched him as he strutted along, single-minded and compliant. He had shaved recently, but his beard was starting to show again, and she liked it. He must've felt her gaze on him, because he turned to look.

"Sorry," she heard herself apologizing, though she felt sillier after she had said it.

Wanda opened the door to the lab and directed Sarah to get him onto the table again.

Sarah gently guided his body down into a horizontal position, and rubbed his shoulder encouragingly. Bucky frowned at this, staring at her with confusion.

"It's going to be okay. We're going to help you."

"Why are you being kind to me?" he asked, and it was a question that broke Sarah's heart in two.

Sarah made sure he saw her moving, slowly, leaning for his ear.

"Because, _unfortunately_," she whispered under her breath, hoping Wanda wouldn't hear. "I'm in love with you."

This caused him to frown even more, his bewilderment overtaking all other expression.

Wanda came near with the arm, her eyes glowing with energy as she put it near his shoulder. Sarah could see the sparks of magnetism from the socket of his shoulder recognizing its other half.

"I have a feeling this might sting a little," Wanda warned.

Sarah slipped her hand in Bucky's comfortingly, and though surprised at this, he let her. And when he yelled through the pain, he began to clutch it. Sarah could tell he was trying not to break her hand when he did, and grinned to herself at his restraint. Surely, somewhere in the back of his mind, this must feel natural to him.

It was a pleasant thought, even if there was a chance it was totally and completely untrue.

Wanda got started and she could tell the electric pulses were extremely painful. At once, Bucky struggled under the discomfort.

"You gotta keep him still," Wanda commanded. When Bucky cried out, Sarah put a hand on his chest to grab his attention.

"Hey, look at me," Sarah ordered him, and Bucky stopped clenching his eyes through his shouts and obeyed. "I know you don't remember this, but… but, _I_ do… You were in Bucharest, in the market, and I was singing-" Bucky bellowed when Wanda hit a raw nerve, but Sarah clutched his hand tighter. "—_Listen_! Listen to me! It- It was a song my mom used to play when I was little. And you knew it. You heard me from like, two hundred feet away. And I remember your eyes lit up, and you started looking around, because it was something, _finally_, that you recognized, something from home. I didn't understand it then, but I do now and I've been thinking about it every day since!"

"Almost done," Wanda updated, her hands weaving the air with power were starting to shake. As the arm snapped fully into place, Bucky cried out in pain again, trying to get up, but Sarah pushed him back down.

"Ask me what song it was!" Sarah cued him.

"I said, keep him still!" Wanda snapped.

"James, _ask_ me what song it was!"

Bucky looked at her as if she belonged in an asylum.

"Lady, I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Bucky groaned through gritting teeth.

"It's a real pity," a voice from the doorway said. "That after all that effort, he's still going to die today."

Sarah looked up to see Kraven leaning comfortably on the wall, inspecting at his teeth through the reflection of a blade he held in his hands. Bucky rose up immediately, and this time they let him. Wanda continued her attention on the last bits of her task, panting now as she hurried to put the final touches her work.

"Don't worry, I'll wait," Kraven stated calmly to Wanda. "I want the fight to be fair, after all. Which is why I've hidden your two boyfriends away. I had this strange feeling like they were going to cheat. Are you going to cheat, _Kiska_?"

As the question was directed at Wanda, Sarah waited on her to reply.

"So, you understand that I can tear you in half right now, if I wanted," Wanda told Kraven, as she finally finished Bucky's arm and stepped back. Bucky rotated his shoulder to get the feel for it again.

"Yes, about that," Kraven replied mournfully.

Kraven lifted a cupped hand in front of his lips, as if to blow her a kiss. A quick breath, and he blew something else, right into her face.

Wanda waved at the dust as she coughed, but in the next instant, she was crashing to the floor, unconscious. Sarah rushed to her, shaking her a bit to rouse her, but it did little good. Kraven lifted his hand again to strike Sarah. She threw up her hands to defend herself, shooting at him wildly with her gauntlets, but her eyes were shut so tightly she didn't even know if it was actually causing him any harm.

As his fist came barreling down, it was caught in midair by Bucky, who threw his other fist to Kraven's torso. Sarah opened her eyes.

Bucky had a look in his eyes that Sarah had never seen.

Murder.

As the two titans clashed into the hallway, Sarah concentrated on getting Wanda out.

She dragged Wanda by the wrists across the smooth floor, grunting in exertion. Once they were a safe distance from the fighting, Sarah stole a moment to watch in concern. At first, it seemed like Bucky had the upper hand, but Kraven was simply too fast. Sarah only watched as he pounded Bucky's head into a wall over and over again. She took another glance at her wristbands, trying to think of everything Bruce had told her about them. Surely, there was something she could shoot that would do harm to him. Bruce hadn't made her wristbands the lethal sort, unfortunately. Some sort of 'training wheels protocol'.

She heard the snapping of bone, and Bucky calling out.

"JAMES!"

Of course, her voice only made matters worse, as he was distracted by the sound and Kraven took clear advantage.

Then Sarah saw it. On the floor, in the debris of their previous showdown with the guards. There were guns.

Kraven was over Bucky's groaning torso now, slamming his face into the floor.

Sarah wasn't too proud to reach for a Glock, only one thought overcoming all others.

_Let it be the end of this._

And she fired.

**~RR~**

There it was again. That music. Something strumming a tune, tapping a piano, then trumpets… Soft voices in the distance… the warmth of sunbeams on his face…

If this was death, it was the most relieved he'd ever felt.

He opened his eyes, and all he could see was white. White light, white blankets, whitewash brick walls. It smelled like fresh laundry in a slightly stale air. The bed was soft, too soft, and felt good against his bared skin.

He felt a warmth next to him, and saw there was a woman in the bed with him. He took a moment to admire her bared back, her hourglass hips, her sandy brown locks waterfalling on two shoulder blades. He reached out to touch her, hoping it would spark a familiarity, or cause her to turn so he could see her face.

"No," she moaned. "I'm not ready to wake up…"

That voice.

In the next moment, she was in the kitchen cooking breakfast, frying something loudly in an oversized Henley shirt that he could assume was his own.

Bucky pulled the blankets off himself, and sat up to face the window. Outside, were quiet, dingy streets… ones he knew.

He was in Bucharest.

When did he get here? Why was it familiar? This had to be a dream. Or maybe a distant memory?

Who the hell was the woman?

He looked to the kitchen again and she was gone.

Bucky arose from bed and went looking for her. He saw her grabbing her purse and preparing to leave.

"Well, com'on, lazy!" she called out behind her, as she waved over her shoulder for him to follow.

He still couldn't see her face. In fact, the whole room was foggy, dreamlike, and it only worsened when he stepped out the front door.

It seemed like the next instant they were in a car together. The sun was baring down through the windows. She whooped loudly, putting her hand through the moonroof, laughing in pure joy.

He could still hear the music, in fact it was louder now. She swayed gently to its rhythm as they drove, her hair falling in her face. She even sang along, though the words were unintelligible.

Why was her face so tough to focus on? He could feel her hand holding his, he could smell the flowery scent of her perfume. In his heart, he knew her. Yet, her name was distant to him, like trying to share a great experience to a friend, that experience that was life-changing at the time, but you were drawing a blank on what it was called now. You would snap your fingers and push through the murky areas of your head to try to make the name come to you, but all you could do was draw a blank. The type of blank that would bother you well into the night, and there was no way to satiate the mounting frustration at yourself for not remembering something so simple, something so important to you.

The exasperation was amplified when night had suddenly fallen, making trying to see clearly all the more difficult. They dropped off their bags with a bellboy, and she led him by the hand straight to the shore. Once their feet hit sand, feet that were now bare, she let go of his hand to take off to the water. He watched her in the distance, splashing and gesturing him to join her. He wanted to, especially when she started stripping layers and going in deeper, but his feet were planted into the ground.

Eventually, she began to trek back to him, dripping wet and glistening in the spotlight of moon.

He tried to really focus now, past the hair and smile, to the eyes. They were blue, weren't they?

"What's your name?" he breathed to her. She put a finger to her lips, and turned to run back to the water.

"Wait!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. He saw a glimpse of her head disappearing into the waves. "HEY!"

Bucky stripped off his shirt and ran to the water too, wading in as deep as his feet would allow, then going deeper.

The shore was gone from sight. No matter where he looked, he was surrounded by ocean. He began to panic, twirling around to try to find some sort of salvation. He found bigger waves. Salt water was finding its way into his mouth, and he felt his metal arm go limp, weighing him down when he was already growing tired. If only the waves would stop crashing over his head…

**~RR~**

**Please review, it keeps me going!  
Signed,  
RedRogue**


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